Jiuxi

Chapter 709

From the 13th year of Jianwu to the first year of Dingzheng, the people in Yongjia City often heard good news from Jiangbei. From cheering in the beginning, they gradually got used to it.

When the news of the victory of the Western Army of the Great Qi Dynasty conquering several cities and continuing to advance northward reached the capital, except for the young scholars in the Imperial Academy who were as enthusiastic as usual, most of the people just smiled slightly, with a kind of calmness and composure of a winner.

However, this victory report, which was obviously not as good as the previous victories, had an unexpectedly great impact in the court.

The emperor in particular could not hide his joy. Empress Ning discovered that he smiled more in the past few days than in the past year combined.

As the emperor's bedmate, she could understand the source of his mood.

The status of the late emperor in the hearts of the people of Daqi was too high. Although Li Zongben did not dare to dream of surpassing him, he did not want to live forever under the glory of the late emperor. To achieve this, the only way at the moment was to make progress in the Northern Expedition to prove that he was worthy of the expectations of the late emperor.

On the other hand, if Han Zhongjie and Liu Shouguang gain the upper hand on the battlefield, Li Zongben will be more confident, which means that he does not need to rely on Lu Chen all the time, which will be of great benefit to his layout in the army.

These days, people in the court and the country have been building up momentum and trying every means to praise the two commanders of the Western Route Army. As long as they can accomplish the set goals and clear the outer barriers in the southwest of Heluo, Li Zongben will establish them as core figures in the military's top leadership.

It can be said that everything is ready, only the east wind is missing.

The emperor was in a good mood, and the atmosphere in the palace was more relaxed. The eunuchs and palace maids all received rewards, and they were no longer as nervous as usual.

Li Zongben's interest did not only come from the good news from the border. Recently, he felt that his control over the court was getting deeper and deeper, as if everything was going smoothly and there were no more obstacles.

After Li Daoyan passed away, although Xue Nanting and Zhong Cheng became prime ministers, they were certainly not as prestigious and well-connected as Li Daoyan. So when it came to dealing with many issues, Li Zongben felt like he was using just one arm to control them. The feeling of having the final say was extremely wonderful.

With such great power in hand, Li Zongben became more and more calm and composed like an emperor.

At this moment, he looked at the memorial in his hand, nodded and said, "My dear minister, you are prudent and meticulous, and you have lived up to my expectations."

Li Shizhi, the Minister of Personnel, said respectfully: "Your Majesty, thank you for your praise. It is indeed because Your Majesty knows how to appoint the right people. I am just following the rules and doing my best."

Li Zongben smiled slightly.

The memorial in his hand was the result of this year's imperial inspection, which was presided over by Li Shizhi and was completed by officials from the Ministry of Personnel from January to early April, a period of three months.

In fact, this was also his most important test of Li Shizhi.

Although Li Shizhi had performed perfectly over the past year, handling every task assigned to him properly and had gained his trust in the Northern Expedition, this man was not like Han Zhongjie who pledged allegiance to him early on, but only started to approach him after he became the crown prince.

Li Zongben did not mind Li Shizhi's ambitions. He also knew that as the eldest son of Li Daoyan and the new leader of the Jiangnan clan, he would definitely not be content to stop at the position of Minister of Personnel and would definitely aim for the position of prime minister. For Li Zongben, ambitious and desireful officials are easier to control, but whether they know how to be modest and whether they understand the way of loyalty to the emperor is also very important.

Judging from the results of the imperial examination, Li Shizhi was obviously very sensible.

Except for the prime minister, all officials in the capital were subject to the assessment of the Ministry of Personnel. The heads of the six ministries, nine temples, seven institutes, and even the Censorate, Hanlin Academy, and Imperial College were no exception. Li Shizhi gave them very fair evaluations based on facts and did not use this opportunity to reveal his own selfish motives.

As for the more than ten mid-level officials whom Li Zongben had specifically greeted, the worst evaluation Li Shizhi gave them was average, which made Li Zongben very satisfied.

After reading this thick memorial, Li Zongben smiled and said, "My dear minister, you have done a great job. How would you like me to reward you?"

Li Shizhi said cautiously: "Your Majesty's calligraphy is superb. I have admired it for a long time, so I dare to ask Your Majesty to reward me with a piece of calligraphy."

"Oh?"

Li Zongben thought about it and nodded, "Okay."

Yuan Yuji, who was standing next to him, prepared paper and pen, and Li Zongben finished the painting in one go.

He looked at the four characters written in a flamboyant style on the paper and said leisurely, "I will give these characters to you, my dear."

After the ink was slightly dry, Yuan Yuji took out the imperial calligraphy and showed it to Li Shizhi. Li Shizhi looked up and saw the words written on it: Be as careful to the end as at the beginning.

Li Shizhi's heart was moved, and he said with tears of gratitude: "I thank your majesty for your grace."

Li Zongben did not explain much, and motioned Yuan Yuji to frame the calligraphy. Then he said, "Since you were transferred to the position of Minister of Personnel, the position of Minister of Rites has been vacant until now. After Chen Chun returned to Beijing from Dingzhou, I asked him to resume his position as Left Vice Minister of Rites, and the former Huaizhou Governor Yao Chong was appointed Right Vice Minister of Rites. I asked Prime Minister Xue and Prime Minister Zhong for their opinions, and they suggested that Scholar Hu from the Hanlin Academy take over as Minister of Rites. I have no objection to this. However, I have some different opinions with them on the selection of Hanlin scholars."

Li Shizhi said without hesitation: "This matter should be decided by your majesty."

Although Hanlin Academician Hu Jingwen is a little old, he is a great scholar of the time who is as famous as Zhai Lin and Wang Cheng, and there is nothing wrong with him taking over as the Minister of Rites.

As for the candidate for the new Hanlin scholar, Li Shizhi actually wanted to push Pei Fangyuan, the chief academic officer of the Imperial College, but he wanted to see what the emperor thought first.

Li Zongben gazed at the face of this noble civil official and said with a smile: "Prime Minister Xue favors the imperial scholar Yu Xuan, and Prime Minister Zhong recommends a candidate that I did not expect. Can you guess who it is?" Unexpected?

Li Shizhi's mind raced, and a name suddenly popped up in his mind. He tentatively asked, "Could it be Wang An, Wang Anzhong?"

"My dear, your thoughts are clear."

Li Zongben showed approval, and then said meaningfully: "I am a little curious, why did Prime Minister Zhong suddenly recommend Wang An? Although he is the head of the Zhailin Wang family and Lu Chen's uncle-in-law, he is only a scholar waiting for consultation. Isn't it a bit radical to suddenly become a Hanlin scholar?"

Li Shizhi pondered and said, "Your Majesty, do you still remember Xin Yixian?"

Li Zongben was stunned.

A fragment emerged in his memory. It was when he had just ascended the throne. In order to put Lu Chen in trouble, he decided to confer the title of Duke of a County on him. However, before he took any action, several court officials jumped out to stir up trouble. The leader among them was Xin Yixian, a Bachelor of the Hanlin Academy.

In the eyes of many people, Xin Yixian was Zhong Cheng's trusted subordinate, so it was difficult to say whether this matter was instructed by Zhong Cheng.

Li Zongben really disliked people below him acting on their own, so he found an excuse to drive Xin Yi out of the capital afterwards, but he did not continue to hold Zhong Cheng accountable.

Reminded by Li Shizhi at this moment, Li Zongben suddenly realized that there were rumors at that time that Zhong Cheng had offended Lu Chen because of Xin Yixian's matter. Could it be that this time he recommended Wang An to show goodwill to Lu Chen?
Thinking of this, Li Zongben said with a half-smile: "It seems that Lu Chen's influence in the court is greater than I expected."

Li Shizhi did not continue to make up the story. He was well aware of the cunningness of human nature and thought it was enough to stop there. He believed that the emperor would automatically think of the four words "collusion between insiders and outsiders", and his subsequent impression of Zhong Cheng would further deteriorate.

"Although Wang An has made contributions to the Great Qi, he has been in the court for too short a time. It is against the rules to promote him rashly."

Li Zongben did not discuss Zhong Cheng's problem in depth, and changed the subject: "I hope you can shoulder the heavy responsibility."

This sentence made Li Shizhi a little surprised. He hesitated and said, "Your Majesty——"

Li Zongben interrupted him and said gently but firmly: "Throughout history, there are countless examples of people holding concurrent posts. As my arm, it is only natural for you to shoulder more responsibilities. Moreover, if you hold the position of Minister of Personnel and concurrently serve as a Hanlin scholar, your voice in the court will be comparable to that of the two prime ministers. However, this will be a bit hard for you, so I hope you will not refuse."

Li Shizhi had calmed down by now. After a little thought, he bowed and said, "Your Majesty's kindness, I dare not refuse. In the future, I will do my best to overcome all difficulties and die for your loyalty."

Li Zongben said with relief: "It is enough that you have this intention. You must take care of yourself and help me manage the court."

Li Shizhi bowed again.

In fact, for Li Zongben, reusing Li Shizhi was like promoting Su Yunqing, which was an important means for him to adjust the court structure.

He had only been the crown prince for half a year, and apart from Han Zhongjie, he had no time to cultivate enough trusted aides in high positions. Even though he had promoted a group of new officials after ascending the throne, these people were of relatively low level and could not directly rise to high-ranking officials in the ministry.

Employing Li Shizhi was a relatively reasonable choice. This person had enough capital to break the old pattern. At the same time, through more than a year of observation, Li Zongben believed that he knew him well enough.

More importantly, Li Shizhi is not Li Daoyan. He has only been rising in the court for more than a year, and has been the Minister of Personnel for less than a year. The glory of his father cannot guarantee that he can have the same prestige and status. He must rely on the trust of the emperor to gain a firm foothold.

This is the source of Li Zongben’s confidence that he can control this person.

After a while, Li Shizhi walked out of the Chongzheng Hall holding the imperial calligraphy.

Walking in the magnificent imperial palace, basking in the bright spring sunshine, the Minister of Personnel and newly appointed Imperial Academy scholar walked with dignity and a steady pace.

After walking through the wide square outside the Hening Gate and boarding his own carriage, the trusted coachman asked, "Master, are we going back home?"

Li Shizhi's calm voice came from the carriage: "Go back to the mansion first, and then change carriages to go to the Bingzi Villa in the north city."

The coachman got off.

About half an hour later, an ordinary-looking carriage arrived at Dingningfang in the north city, and after turning left and right, it arrived at a seemingly ordinary-looking house.

Li Shizhi walked into the house surrounded by several fierce guards.

When they arrived at the main hall, a middle-aged man who had been waiting there came forward, bowed and said with a smile, "Greetings, brother."

"Why should we be so polite?"

Li Shizhi spoke in a gentle tone, his eyes fixed on the man's face.

It was Jing Qingshan, the current Minister of Revenue.

(End of this chapter)