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Although Chen Changshi did not have the title of prime minister, he did the job that the prime minister of Daliang should do.

All memorials had to go through Chen Changshi first, who would select the important ones and present them to the emperor. Minor matters that were not important would never reach the emperor, so Chen Changshi could deal with them directly.

Even if it was an important matter, Her Majesty would discuss it with Chen Changshi. There was also Wang Zhongshu Ling, who would go back to the Prime Minister's Mansion at night and come to the palace with appropriate "suggestions" the next morning.

As a result, Prime Minister Wang, the real Prime Minister of Daliang, was suppressed by Chen Changshi.

The emperor's trust in Chen Changshi is even greater than Emperor Taikang's reliance on Prime Minister Wang. When Prime Minister Wang completely leaves the court, the position of Prime Minister will belong to Chen Changshi.

This is a fact known to everyone, and it is also one of the important reasons why Minister Zhang is so unwilling to accept his fate.

In the past, a fifth-rank official in the palace could only bow his head and curry favor with the six ministers in the court. But now he has risen to the top of their heads. In the officialdom, this is more than just a promotion, it is simply a meteoric rise.

I don’t know whether others are convinced or not, but Minister Zhang is not convinced in his heart.

Chen Changshi didn't know what Zhang Shangshu was thinking, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care. He looked at the list carefully, and he had an idea in his mind. He gave the list to Wang Jin again: "Minister Wang, take a look too."

Wang Jin responded and took the list. After reading it, he said bluntly, "There are 53 people on the list. The others are all suitable, but there are two who are not suitable."

"Zhuo Yue was a juren and served as a county magistrate for several terms. Now he is going to Yuzhou to be appointed as a county governor. This is against the rules. Either he should be replaced or demoted to a county magistrate."

"And Shen Zhi, he made mistakes while in office and was dismissed from his post. He should not be on the list either."

As expected of Prime Minister Wang’s beloved son, he knows all the former Prime Minister’s party officials by heart.

Zhuo and Shen joined Zhang Shangshu for fame, wealth and career. Yuzhou was not a good place, but it was good enough for them.

Minister Zhang was not someone to be trifled with, so he responded immediately, "Your Majesty is not picky about who he employs. There was a county magistrate named Cai in Nanyang County, who was only a scholar, but he still became a county magistrate. Later, he passed the imperial examination and became a juren. There was also the governor Lu in Pingzhou, who was originally a criminal. According to court rules, he should never be employed again. When the emperor was still a princess, he strongly recommended Lu Cong, who first became a county magistrate and later a governor. In just a few years, he managed Pingzhou in an orderly manner. When I was selecting people, I followed their example and became a little bolder."

"If the emperor insists on not agreeing, I will go back and find two more suitable candidates."

Chen Changshi looked unhappy.

Wang Jin frowned.

Minister Zhang came prepared. These two candidates were selected based on Magistrate Cai and Governor Lu. If the emperor disagreed, why could Magistrate Cai and Governor Lu make an exception? If he agreed, wouldn't Minister Zhang be proud of himself?
Jiang Shaohua raised his eyebrows and suddenly laughed: "I really don't care about these when I employ people."

"As long as they have real talent and can do their job well, it doesn't matter if they are Juren or Jinshi. A guilty official can also make amends. According to Minister Zhang's suggestion, both of them will be included in the list."

Minister Zhang's eyebrows twitched, the corners of his mouth raised, and he cupped his hands and replied, "I obey your order."

Jiang Shaohua smiled faintly and said, "However, there is one thing I must say first."

"When I was still the Princess of Nanyang, I dared to make an exception and appointed Cai the Magistrate, and I also dared to recommend Lu the Governor. They both worked hard and did a good job, which brought honor to me."

"If Magistrate Zhuo and Magistrate Shen make mistakes while in office, I will not only punish them severely, but also hold Minister Zhang accountable for his poor judgment of people."

At this point, Zhang Shangshu could not retreat, and he could not retreat. He puffed out his chest and said, "I have confidence in them."...

"Bah! This Minister Zhang is really abominable."

After the court meeting, Chen Sheren was furious and said, "He did these little things just to cause trouble for the emperor."

Jiang Shaohua glanced at her and said, "It's just a small matter, there's no need to get angry."

"There are more than 10,000 officials in the Daliang Dynasty, hundreds of whom are in the capital, and I can see dozens of them at the daily court meetings."

"They all have their own selfish motives. If I can't deal with them one by one, won't I be sulking all day long?"

"Maybe he will lose more than he gains, and lose in the future because of this move."

Jiang Shaohua's last sentence was very meaningful, and Chen Sheren smiled and nodded repeatedly.

Three years later, in the fifth year of Empress Zhaoping's reign, the case of corruption and bribery by the Minister of Personnel of Daliang caused a huge uproar in the court and was also known as the Minister of Personnel selling official positions case.

The trigger of this case was Zhuo, the prefect who was sent to Yuzhou. The governor of Yuzhou inspected the counties and found that Zhuo was corrupt in collecting taxes, so he immediately ordered Zhuo to be arrested and interrogated. As a result, the matter was exposed and Zhang Shangshu was implicated.

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Then, an official from the Ministry of Personnel submitted a memorial to the emperor, exposing the fact that Shangshu Zhang was secretly selling official positions in the Ministry of Personnel, and even directly took out the price list for selling official positions.

When the wall fell, everyone pushed it. Letters of impeachment against Zhang Shangshu flew to the emperor's desk, and some of them were full of evidence. The fatal blow to Zhang Shangshu was that a member of the Zhang family stepped forward and reported that Zhang Shangshu sold official positions at high prices. Because this member of the family had made meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, the emperor pardoned him and only expelled him from the capital.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, Minister Zhang was unable to argue and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to confiscation of his property and exile of his entire family to Lingnan.

Zhang Shangshu's children and grandchildren were unwilling to be exiled, so they made a desperate attempt. They gathered their servants and clansmen in the middle of the night and attacked the palace gate. As a result, they were killed by the imperial guards who were waiting for them.

Instead of suffering from exile, he would go directly to the underworld to be reincarnated.

The Zhang family's property was confiscated, and the national treasury had the equivalent of two years of Daliang's taxes, which provided sufficient financial resources to support the army. The soldiers in the Daliang army had sufficient pay, were well fed and well clothed, and trained every day, making their combat effectiveness grow by leaps and bounds.

These are all later stories. At the moment, Minister Zhang was secretly pleased with his brilliant move!

Minister Zhang returned to the Ministry of Personnel and gave instructions: "According to the list, call over the fifty or so people who have filled the vacancies and train them urgently for a period of time before they leave for their missions."

This was also one of the duties of the Ministry of Personnel. Although Minister Zhang was greedy, he did a good job.

The court had one important event after another and there was no peace.

In July, the Yellow River overflowed, and as many as six counties had their embankments breached by the river. Hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile land were submerged, and countless people died in the flood. Tens of thousands of people lost their homes and fields overnight, becoming homeless and wailing everywhere.

The tragic news shocked the government and the public. (End of this chapter)