Daming talker

Chapter 761: After the Conferment of the Title of Marquis and the Offering of Prisoners

A few days later, the emperor issued an imperial edict, conferring the title of Daifang Hou on Lin Tailai, a hero of the Eastern Expedition, and granted him a red-lettered iron certificate as per custom.

From this time on, there was one more noble family who theoretically "died and died with the Ming Dynasty."

Although Lin Tailai had always been very low-key before, he could not be too low-key in the few days after accepting the title. He needed to show his excitement, otherwise what would the emperor think?
So the plaque of the Lin Mansion was changed to Daifang Hou Mansion. After Lin Tailai became a "Lord", he held a three-day banquet and invited guests and friends to celebrate. It was a scene of great prosperity and flowers!

Of course, being able to attend the banquet at the Lin Mansion is actually nothing special. Only those who can enter the inner courtyard for tea and gathering after the banquet are people in the core circle.

Basically, it was just a group of people from the Renewal Society sitting here, and it was also the first meeting that Lin Tailai convened after returning to the court.

What was particularly special this time was that the Minister of Personnel Wang Shizhen was also sitting here. Strictly speaking, Wang Tianguan was not a member of the Renewal Society.

As a result, Wang Tianguan's eldest son Wang Shiqi felt very uncomfortable. Only those who have attended a meeting know how it feels to sit in a meeting with his old father.

After taking a few sips of the hangover soup, Lin Tailai, the president of the Renewal Society, said, "I have been walking on thin ice all my life, and now it is the most critical moment."

Everyone: "."

What connection can the phrase "walking on thin ice" have with you?

Who was the man who entered the Tao through martial arts, fought his way from the literary world to the imperial examinations, from the south of the Yangtze River to the capital, and from the western frontier to the eastern country?

Lin Tailai added: “So I have decided that after the captive offering ceremony, I will resign from all official positions except the Ci Lin!
After all, I am really exhausted from the conquests over the years, so I will return to Suzhou to rest for a few years."

This decision made by Lin Zuoguan was like a thunderclap, making everyone in the Renewal Society's heads buzz.

Lin Tailai was heard sighing again: "With my level of fame, every move I make in the court will surely be criticized.

Rather than watching suspicion and rifts build up, it is better to go back for now.

Moreover, the situation in the past one or two years has shown that you can maintain the situation even if I am not in the capital.

This shows that our organization is already very well-established and no longer completely dependent on me.”

While others were still in a daze, Zhou Yingqiu asked, "When will the Lord return?"

Lin Tailai answered confidently: "Wait until I am the only one left."

The court officials may think that the Wanli Emperor has completely given up. But the Wanli Emperor always uses facts to tell everyone that he can give up even more. How far has he come?

It is a good opportunity for him to take advantage of the emperor's bad times and go to Suzhou to work hard for a few years to gain control of the economic lifeline and build a force that can protect itself even in the face of imperial power.

After expressing his future plans, Lin Tailai said, "You may wonder why I have been holding several positions. In addition to being the official in charge of poetry, I also hold four positions: the Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites and the Doctor of the Three Departments.

Today I will tell you that I am willing to take on multiple roles despite all the criticism and ridicule for being power-hungry, all for your own good. "

Everyone didn’t understand at first, could this be “for your own good”?
Lin Tailai turned to look at Wang Tianguan, "I'll trouble you to arrange everything after I resign."

Wang Tianguan was not feeling well, so he just said one word: "Yes."

Then Lin Tailai said to Shen Yongmao: "After I resign, you will take over and be promoted to the rank of Junior Secretary of the Ministry of Rites."

He said to Chen Yunjian: "You will succeed me and be promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Examination and Reward Department."

He said to Shen Yan, "You will succeed me and be promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of Rites." He said to Wang Shiqi, "Ke Ting will succeed me and be promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of War's Communications Department, and you can be promoted to Yuanwailang."

After hearing this, everyone seemed to understand that Lin Tailai had been holding several positions just to help them occupy positions and wait for them to have enough experience and qualifications to take over!

I am so moved. I cannot help but be moved! It is a blessing for all members to have such a leader!
Finally, Lin Tai said: "Of course, I am not resigning completely. I will still retain my position as a reader in the Hanlin Academy, and I am preparing to serve as a doctor in the Jiangnan Branch of the Communications Department of the Ministry of War."

Wang Tianguan said calmly, "I understand."

Everyone finally understood why Wang Tianguan was present today. Such a large-scale personnel arrangement required the full cooperation of Tianguan.

By the end of October, the weather in the capital had become cold, but the ceremony of presenting prisoners was still held.

With the experience of the previous year, the court was much more calm and skilled in preparing the prisoner presentation ceremony this time.

Even the protagonist has not changed, he is still Emperor Wanli. No one would think that the protagonist of the prisoner presentation ceremony is Lin Tailai, right?
Amid the triumphant singing of hundreds of musicians and dancers, civil and military officials took their shifts at the Meridian Gate, and Emperor Wanli ascended the Five Phoenix Tower at the Meridian Gate to accept congratulations.

Two years later, civil and military officials saw the emperor again.

Lin Tailai once again broke the convention and stood under the Meridian Gate to loudly report the results of the battle to the emperor. According to the system, this should have been the job of the Minister of War.

Then a symbolic number of one hundred Japanese pirate captives were brought to the Meridian Gate to be tried by the Ming Dynasty.

Of course, these one hundred prisoners were not chosen randomly. They were all characters like the leaders of the Ashigaru group, which was considered the lowest-level generals.

Ordinary foot soldiers of the Japanese rank were not up to the task, and the higher-level Japanese generals had all been exchanged for silver, so they could only select Japanese pirates at the "foot soldiers group leader" level to fill the scene.

The Minister of Punishments, Chen Yu, came before the emperor and, on behalf of the court, announced the verdict on these "most vicious and diehard" Japanese pirates - immediate execution, and requested the emperor's approval.

This is what the prisoner presentation ceremony was like. All the prisoners who were symbolically dragged to the Meridian Gate would be killed in order to intimidate all the other parties.

However, when faced with the request for execution this time, Emperor Wanli at the Meridian Gate hesitated for a moment and did not respond as readily as he did last time when the prisoners were offered.

Each prisoner sent to Tongshan could generate an average profit of four taels of silver per year, so one hundred people would make four hundred taels per year.
Finally, Emperor Wanli, feeling both toothache and heartache, ordered: "Take it away!"

The Jinyiwei officers on both sides passed the message one after another, and the message was passed to the Meridian Gate, where it was continued by thousands of big men and generals on duty.

Then the one hundred Japanese pirates were driven out of the imperial city, paraded through the right gate of Chang'an, and then taken to the West Market, where they were beheaded in public.

After the prisoner presentation ceremony, court officials began to finalize their work for the year.

Anyway, the emperor didn't hold court or offer sacrifices, and the various year-end and New Year ceremonies were greatly simplified, so everyone was relaxed.

In addition, Lin Tailai did not cause trouble after returning to the court this time, so the chaos in the court could be reduced by at least half.

When the court officials thought that the court would be peaceful for a while, the upstart Lin Tailai suddenly submitted a petition requesting to resign from all his part-time jobs and take leave to return home to visit his relatives.

The court was shocked. No one expected that with Lin Tailai's desire for power, he would suddenly "give in" this time.

To most people, Lin Tailai's move seemed to be a sign of "retirement". Could it be that after achieving great success, he wanted to retire at the peak of his career?

(End of this chapter)