Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 128 Jingcha
After pranking Yan Shifan, Emperor Jiajing brought his thoughts back to the more important thing at the moment, which was to decide on the candidates for the Literary Selection Department and the Civil Service Examination Department.With the recommendation of Wang Daoqiu, and the approval of the other three cabinet bachelors, except Xia Yan, the stinky dog ​​shit, among the four cabinet bachelors, abstained.

Moreover, Gao Gong and Gao Yi worked as secretaries for Emperor Jiajing for six years in the Hanlin Academy.Emperor Jiajing also recognized these two people.

Wang Daoqiu recommended it, the cabinet agreed, and Emperor Jiajing himself thought it would work. Logically speaking, the matter could be decided in this way.However, as a mature politician, Emperor Jiajing decided to follow the court rules.

So after thinking for a while, he said to the four great scholars in the cabinet: "Although Gao Gong and Gao Yi were recommended by Wang Aiqing and the cabinet, Yu Aiqing is the minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Li Aiqing is the minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Right Assistant Minister, so this matter still needs their consent before it is in compliance with the rules."

After saying these words to the four great scholars in the cabinet, Emperor Jiajing turned around and ordered Lu Fang to summon Yu Maojian and Li Xiang to Wanshou Palace to discuss politics.

So next, Emperor Jiajing and the four bachelors of the cabinet waited for Yu Maojian and Li Xiang while discussing other affairs of the court.

Not long after, Yu Maojian and Li Xiang were led into the Wanshou Palace by the Xiaohuang Gate. After the two of them finished their salutes, Emperor Jiajing said to them: "Yu Aiqing, Li Aiqing, just now Wang Aiqing and the cabinet recommended to me, by the Hanlin Academy, Gao Gong and Gao Yi are in charge of the Literary Selection Department and the Gong Examination Department of your official department. I don’t know about this, but do you, my beloved, know about it?"

"Back to Your Majesty, Shizhong Wang has discussed this matter with the old minister this morning. The old minister also believes that Gao Gong and Gao Yi have been in the Hanlin Academy for six years and have good conduct. The old minister believes that they can fairly select officials for the country in the future. . So the old minister seconded Shizhong Wang’s recommendation of Gao Gong and Gao Yi. Moreover, the old minister just discussed this matter with Mr. Li, and Mr. Li has no objection to it. "

"Reporting to Your Majesty, I have my concurrence, Li Xiang."

Yu Maojian was grateful for Wang Daoqiu's generosity and public spirit in the arrangement of Qingliu officials like Li Mo in the morning.And regarding the recommendation of Gao Gong and Gao Yi, Wang Daoqiu did ask for his opinion in the morning.So now when Emperor Jiajing asked about this matter, Yu Maojian hurriedly left work to express his support for Wang Daoqiu.

As for Li Xiang, the current right servant of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he always respected Yu Maojian and also liked Wang Daoqiu.Therefore, after Yu Maojian came to him just now and informed him of Wang Daoqiu's placement suggestions for Li Mo and Xu Jie, as well as the candidates' recommendations for the Literary Selection Department and the Civil Service Examination Department, he agreed.Therefore, as soon as Yu Maojian left office, he seconded Wang Daoqiu's recommendation to Emperor Jiajing, and Li Xiang followed closely, saying that he also seconded Wang Daoqiu's recommendation.

The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, the two ministers on the left and right all agreed, and the cabinet also agreed. In addition, I also felt that Gao Gong and Gao Yi were good people.So after Yu Maojian and Li Xiang expressed their attitudes, Emperor Jiajing made the final decision: "Since Yu Aiqing and Li Aiqing also seconded the proposal, the cabinet will vote on this matter as soon as possible and send it to the Supervisor of Ceremonies for approval. Okay, you ladies have something to report. ? If not, then today’s court meeting will end here!”

The tone of Emperor Jiajing's words clearly meant that he was chasing people away, so as soon as Emperor Jiajing finished speaking, Yan Song, an old official, came out and wanted to kneel down and shout "Long live, long live, long live, long live" to say goodbye to Emperor Jiajing.

But at this moment, Yu Maojian got ahead of Yan Song and came out to play: "Your Majesty, I have this memorial."

It was obvious that he was chasing people away, but Yu Maojian still...!To be honest, Yu Maojian's current lackluster behavior made Emperor Jiajing very unhappy.But Yu Maojian was a highly respected veteran minister in the court, and Emperor Jiajing would not like to disrespect him in public.So after Yu Maojian went out to ask for a performance, Emperor Jiajing was reluctant and asked Yu Maojian to play.

With Emperor Jiajing's permission, Yu Maojian respectfully said: "Your Majesty, I have been in the officialdom for nearly 40 years and have held various positions in local and imperial courts. I used to be in charge of the Procuratorate, but now I have the grace of Your Majesty to take charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Ming Dynasty. It can be said that I am an old minister. I am very familiar with the official administration of the Ming Dynasty. There are now more than 9000 officials of the ninth rank and above in the Ming Dynasty, including nearly [-] officials in the northern and southern capitals. Each of the two capitals has [-] major yamen. It can be said that the imperial court is seriously overstaffed now. When there are more officials, they will fight each other for power and gain, and there will be endless incidents of causing trouble to each other."

"I can say bluntly that there are a large number of corrupt, lazy, stupid and mediocre officials in the yamen of the two capitals. Therefore, I would like to ask Your Majesty to issue an order to have the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Ministry of Civil Affairs jointly implement the Beijing inspection and eliminate those redundant officials. . The old minister plans to complete this inspection of the capital within three months and eliminate at least [-] redundant personnel in the two capitals. Although this move will inevitably cause great complaints in the official circles, I think that it is a disease that should be treated, and there is no good one. The situation of official administration does not have a capable administrative system. Then our Ming Dynasty will not only waste a lot of money and food every year, but also cause the various decrees of the imperial court to be unable to be implemented smoothly. Therefore, I sincerely request your majesty to order an inspection in the capital."

The topic of Beijing inspection and elimination of redundant personnel was too sensitive. Emperor Jiajing didn't know how to answer the question for a while, so Emperor Jiajing looked at Yan Song, the chief assistant.

After Yan Song received the signal from Emperor Jiajing, he hurriedly understood and said to Yu Maojian: "Master Yu, the monarch's kindness is great, the people are blessed, and the officials should also be blessed. Most of the officials in the eighteen yamen in the two capitals have been in office for ten years I studied hard in Hanchuang and passed the scientific examinations one after another, and finally entered the official career with great hardship. And the small number of reward officers among the officials are also the rewards given by His Majesty to those important ministers who have made great contributions to the country, with the special purpose of benefiting their families. Their sons became officials. Sir Yu, you are going to lay off 5000 of them at once. This is too much! Sir Yu, it is true that the emperor is the parent of all people, but the emperor is also the master of hundreds of officials. Ah! The responsibilities on the emperor’s shoulders are not only to make the people live and work in peace and contentment, but also to seek the interests of all the officials in the court!"

"Master Chief Minister, what do you mean by this? I have been in the officialdom for nearly 40 years, and I am used to seeing the chief ministers of the cabinet one term after another, with the ebb and flow. I don't want to comment with you here now. The chief ministers I have met Auxiliaries, what are their merits and demerits when they were in power? I will only say one thing. When the chief ministers first came to power, one thing they would do is to win over people's hearts. This is true among the chief ministers I have seen. Except for Xia Yan, who arrogantly regarded his colleagues as domestic slaves, all the other chief ministers were without exception. Mr. Chief Minister, you only replaced Xia Yan as the chief minister of the cabinet half a year ago. Now you oppose the capital and the police and tolerate those redundant personnel who are devouring the country. Mr. Chief Assistant, do you also want to use the blood and sweat of my Ming people to win over people's hearts for yourself?"

"You, you, Yu Maojian, in front of the emperor, how dare you so slander the chief minister of the dynasty, Yu Maojian, do you still know the decency of the court? Your Majesty, I have been wronged."

Because of his nature as a loving father, Yan Song willingly took the blame for his greedy son Yan Shifan.Including that time, in order to prevent the then chief minister Xia Yan from pursuing his son Yan Shifan's corruption, he personally took his son Yan Shifan and knelt in Xia Yan's house regardless of his age in his 60s and his status as a bachelor of the current cabinet. He opened the door and begged the other party to raise his head.Precisely because Yan Song defended Yan Shifan time and time again, he even knelt down in front of Xia Yan's house for his son in public.Therefore, in the current officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, officials unanimously believe that Yan Shifan is just a corrupt member of the Yan family who is responsible for collecting money at the front desk.And he, old Yan Song, is the mastermind behind the Yan family's corruption.Therefore, Yan Song has a very bad reputation in the current Ming Dynasty officialdom. Scholars like Yu Maojian, Lin Qingfeng, look down on Yan Song at all, and naturally they will not give Yan Song any face, and his words are very sharp.

So Yan Song, who was directly slapped in the face by Yu Maojian, knew that he had no face to try to make friends with Yu Maojian.So he had no choice but to turn to Emperor Jiajing for help and ask him to help him regain his position.

Seeing Yan Song's current appearance, showing no integrity as a minister, Yu Maojian became even more angry. He didn't wait for Emperor Jiajing to stand up for Yan Song, and angrily scolded Yan Song: "Shameless old thief, you are sixty-seven years old. The Emperor's grace has appointed you as the chief minister. Since you are already the chief minister, you should not be selfish for the salary. If the officials in the court are all powerful, take power, indulge in lust, and flatter their superiors. Then As a result, wouldn't the royal law of the imperial court be like the prostitutes in the Goulan brothel, reduced to a plaything of the rich and powerful?"

"You, Yan Song, have been favored by His Majesty and are ranked at the top of the hundred officials. You are worthy of Your Majesty's favor when you are above, and you are worthy of the people of the world when you are below. If there is bad governance in the court, you should clean it up vigorously. How can you be afraid of a hypocritical official heart? The queen of wolves is afraid of tigers! As the prime minister, you should regard the world as the public and the country as the most important thing. How can you tolerate those idle, corrupt and mediocre officials with high rank and salary in order to win over people's hearts? What shameless officials are you talking about? There should also be blessings, and your Majesty should work for the benefit of all officials. Yan Song, are you talking humanly?"

After angrily scolding Yan Song, the anger in Yu Maojian's heart was still hard to calm down.So Yu Maojian, who was full of anger, finished angrily rebuking Yan Song, knelt down in front of Emperor Jiajing, and said in a firm tone: "Your Majesty, Yu Maojian, the chief minister of the cabinet, Yan Song, is corrupt, perverts the law, forms cliques for personal gains, and loses his integrity as a minister. I ask your majesty to remove Yan Song from his position." The position of chief assistant shall be handed over to the Three Laws Division for deliberation."

This, this, this Yu Maojian got excited and raised the issue to the level of changing the first assistant. How can you ask Emperor Jiajing to answer the question?What's even more terrible is the new right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Li Xiang. Out of righteous indignation, he followed Yu Maojian and knelt down to Emperor Jiajing, begging Yan Song to be punished.

After seeing Yu Maojian and Li Xiang kneeling down, Xia Yan, the second assistant, thought that this might be a good opportunity to overthrow Yan Song and regain his position as the first assistant.So Xia Yan and others followed Yu Maojian and Li Xiang and knelt down to accuse the Yan family of corruption cases one by one.He also self-examined himself to Emperor Jiajing, saying that when he saw the Yan family and his son kneeling pitifully in front of his house, he turned to favoritism for a moment and let Yan Shifan's corruption case go, and begged His Majesty's forgiveness.

With Xia Yan's revelations, Yan Song was confirmed to be corrupt. This frightened old Yan Song to kowtow in front of the emperor, and Emperor Jiajing's face turned green with anger.

Looking at everything in the palace, Wang Daoqiu knew that Emperor Jiajing at this time had no intention of dealing with Yan Song.After all, Emperor Jiajing has given up on Xia Yan now. If he gives up on Yan Song again, who will do the heavy daily work of the court?Who is going to subdue the civil service system of the imperial court?
Moreover, Xia Yan mentioned in his accusation just now that Yan Song and his son had to kneel at the door of his Xia Mansion to gain sympathy in order to escape the crime.But in order to get rid of the crime, it was not only Yan Song and his son who knelt down at the door of his Xia Mansion to express sympathy, but also the younger brother of Emperor Jiajing, Lu Bing.If Emperor Jiajing deals with the Yan family and his son today, what should he do next when Lu Bing does the same thing?
So Emperor Jiajing didn't want to deal with the Yan family just because they were greedy for the little money.But now Yu Maojian, Xia Yan, and Li Xiang are kneeling there, accusing Yan Song with clear words. As the emperor, he, Emperor Jiajing, can't take the lead in breaking the law, right?It’s difficult, it’s too difficult!There was no way around it, Emperor Jiajing looked at Wang Daoqiu with his little eyes.

Wang Daoqiu, who knew that Emperor Jiajing and Yan Song were the best partners and would never want to deal with Yan Song, received the signal from Emperor Jiajing's eyes.He hurriedly came out of class and said: "Your Majesty, there are many rumors about the Chief Assistant among the people and the court. I think we should investigate and punish him severely if it is true. If it is just to make excuses, we should pay back the Chief Assistant. Innocent. I am not talented, but I have been favored by your majesty. I am a close minister, and also serve as the left minister of the Ministry of official affairs, and select officials for the country. If your majesty and all the princes in the court trust me, I, Wang Daoqiu, will volunteer to investigate the matter and be willing to do it for you. I take full responsibility for the results of my own investigation.”

After Wang Daoqiu finished speaking his heroic words, he gave Emperor Jiajing an "I understand you" look.After Emperor Jiajing received this look from Wang Daoqiu, he knew that Wang Daoqiu understood him.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing did not ask for the opinions of the cabinet, Yu Maojian, and Li Xiang, but directly made the decision: "Well, although Wang Aiqing is young, he has the courage to do his job. I am very pleased. As for the chief minister, I am very pleased." Those rumors were left to Wang Aiqing to investigate."

"It's your Majesty. I thank you for your trust. By the way, Your Majesty, I think that throughout the dynasties, the people have longed for honest officials and compared them to the blue sky. This has been true since ancient times. It is said that those who win the hearts of the people win the world. I think that your Majesty should comply with the hearts of the people and issue decrees to all. The Procuratorate and the Ministry of Personnel organized inspections in Beijing. Redundant officials in the two capitals were eliminated and officials were rewarded."

After saying these words, Wang Daoqiu winked at Emperor Jiajing and signaled Emperor Jiajing to agree to the Beijing inspection, so as to seal the mouths of Yu Maojian and Li Xiang and save them from clinging to the matter of Yan Song.

Emperor Jiajing was a master at dealing with people and was known to be able to see through other people's thoughts at a glance.So as soon as he received Wang Daoqiu's look, he immediately understood. Then he pretended to be serious and said: "Public administration is the foundation of the country. Since Yu Aiqing is determined, she will not hesitate to offend the entire officialdom of the two capitals, but she must also support the country and clean up the official administration. I'm very relieved. Well, starting from next month, according to past practice, the Metropolitan Procuratorate will work with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, led by Yu Aiqing, and the Ministry and the Ministry will jointly conduct Beijing inspections of officials below and including the fourth grade in the two capitals. And the fourth grade Officials with grades and above will report their work to the cabinet on their own initiative, and four cabinet ministers will evaluate their merits."

"The ministers obey the order."

"Long live the emperor, long live, long live."

Emperor Jiajing's decree was very clever. He only allowed Yu Maojian and others to evaluate Beijing officials below the fourth rank, while leaving the evaluation power for Beijing officials above the fourth rank to the cabinet.In this way, Yu Maojian and the others would not be able to investigate Yan Song.

Yan Song was also very clever at this time. After he issued the decree to Emperor Jiajing and all the ministers accepted the decree to express their gratitude, he quickly shouted out the classic line of his first assistant, "Long live the emperor, long live the emperor" to announce that this time The meeting ended.

(End of this chapter)