Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 215 Turmoil in the Court
The choice of a bachelor to stay or leave is obviously not a trivial matter.

Zhu Youjian underestimated the impact of this incident and did not expect that he just asked Su Maoxiang to give He Ping to Zhang Ruitu, which would make many people think they saw an opportunity.

During the Chang Dynasty meeting on December 3, many officials went to court to impeach Zhang Ruitu. Some people also implicated Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai, and Li Guopu, and impeached the four bachelors together.

These four people were left over from the eunuchs, and there were always many people in the court who wanted to drive them out. It was only Zhu Youjian's strong support that allowed them to stay in office.

But the evidence of Zhang Ruitu's rebellion was sent by Zhu Youjian. This leaves him no choice but to convict Zhang Ruitu.

After thinking about it, Zhu Youjian said:
"Zhang Ruitu wrote an inscription on the forehead of Wei Ni, which should have been classified as the sixth grade."

"Since he assisted me to achieve great success and did not follow Wei Zhongxian to rebel, he will be classified as the eighth grade and all ranks except for the bachelor will be removed."

"Added the title of minister of political affairs, and still participated in aircraft maintenance."

He gave up the idea of ​​driving Zhang Ruitu back and still kept him in his post. It's just that the title was changed from the first-rank minister of political affairs to the second-rank minister of political affairs, which was considered a step down. From now on, Zhang Ruitu will be ranked behind Li Guopu in the cabinet.

This result naturally made those officials who impeached Zhang Ruitu and others feel unwilling.

If Zhang Ruitu is only classified as the eighth class, then Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai, and Li Guopu, who are less advanced than him, are they not even classified as the eighth class?
How can we impeach them for being rebellious and drive them out?
Zhu Youjian naturally knew whether Huang Liji and others were rebellious. These people are attached to Wei Zhongxian, but if they say that they follow Wei Zhongxian to plot rebellion, Zhu Youjian will never believe it.

If they work wholeheartedly for Wei Zhongxian, the emperor Zhu Youjian will not be in power so easily.

So after punishing Zhang Ruitu, Zhu Youjian saw that the courtiers were not giving up, and Huang Liji couldn't stand it anymore. He wanted to retreat due to illness, so he immediately vetoed it and said to him:

"When the late emperor was seriously ill, Huang Qing led all the civil and military officials to pay greetings. I remember this."

"You were able to successfully assist me in ascending to the throne when Wei Ni was in power. I will always remember the hard work involved."

"Pass the decree, add the bachelor Huang Liji as the Taibao, and Yinyi's son Jinwuwei deputy Qianhu hereditary."

"In the future, you must work hard and don't resign casually."

Huang Liji was so excited that he burst into tears. The officials who impeached him had no choice but to remember the merits of his ascension to the throne, and the emperor always rewarded Huang Liji in this name.

This was not over yet, Zhu Youjian said to Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu:

"The great scholar Shi Fenglai, when Wei Ni was planning to be regent, once said, 'You can't take the exam if you live far away from the regent, and you can't learn from him'," to prevent Wei Ni from taking over."

"By decree, I will be awarded the rank of Zuozhu, a first-class salary, and a son of Yinwu, who will be hereditary for hundreds of households."

"Li Guopu, a great scholar, spoke out to protect Zhang Guoji and thwart Wei Ni's conspiracy when Wei Ni ordered Liu Zhixuan to impeach Zhang Guoji in order to shake up the central palace."

"By decree, I will be awarded the rank of Zuozhu, a first-class salary, and a son of Yinwu, who will be hereditary for hundreds of households."

He awarded rewards to three people in a row, showing that he valued them, and finally stabilized the situation.

All the ministers now understood that the emperor had the same trust in these three people as always and was not involved in Zhang Ruitu's affairs.

Only Zhang Ruitu felt regretful at this time. If I had known that I would have said something when Wei Zhongxian was planning to be regent, I would not have ended up in this situation.

At this moment, Zhang Ruitu approved of the emperor's handling.

As the emperor said, Huang Liji, the chief minister of the cabinet, made the greatest contribution by assisting Wei Zhongxian in his rise to power when he was in power. It is impossible to say that he was treasonous.

Shi Fenglai and Li Guopu both foiled Wei Zhongxian's conspiracy, and they are not considered treason either. He was the only one who, as a great scholar, did not disobey Wei Zhongxian, and even the emperor saw the inscription "He" on the forehead inscription on his forehead. If not, who would deal with him?
If the emperor does not deal with it, no one will be convinced by those officials who have been convicted of treason for praising and praising beauty. Maybe someone will keep an eye on him in the future and want to drag him into the water.

It can be said that the emperor classified him as the eighth class and only demoted him one level to remain in office. This was already a lenient treatment.

Zhang Ruitu could think so, but Zhu Youjian already regretted it. He really didn't expect that asking Su Maoxiang to send a congratulatory message would cause such a big commotion in the court.

If he had known this earlier, he would have done it more secretly and not let other courtiers know.

Unlike now, if Zhang Ruitu wants to stay in office, he has to give rewards to Huang Liji, Shi Fenglai, and Li Guopu in order to calm the turmoil.

Really angry about this and not wanting Zhang Ruitu to become the core of Jinjiang officials, Zhu Youjian said:
"Grand Bachelor Zhang Ruitu will focus on books and writing in the future."

"Zhu Qi and Meng Shaoyu, the Minister of Rites, worked together to formulate a general standard character list for printing, explore the evolution of characters, and compile a universal dictionary."

Let him switch from repairing books in name to actually repairing books, and then use his reputation in calligraphy to make the dictionaries printed in the future easier to sell.

In this way, I might be able to earn some more money to make up for the money I needed to increase my salary and income.

All the ministers also heard it. Although Zhang Ruitu remained in office, he would only have power in books and writings from now on.

Does such a position require a bachelor's degree?
It seems that the day when Zhang Ruitu will become a senior minister and compile books is not far away.

Zhang Ruitu understood the same thing and decided to resign on his own initiative after returning so as not to embarrass the emperor. It would be really embarrassing if he refused to leave and was impeached by the ministers again.

After barely calming down the turmoil caused by Zhang Ruitu's incident, Zhu Youjian became more aware of the weight of the bachelor's degree.

This is truly a position that has no title but power, a position that all civil servants dream of. The outgoing academicians are called old ministers among the people, and some ministers also call them this in their memorials, which is a blatant violation of the "Huang Ming Ancestor Instructions".

Zhang Juzheng even openly said, "I am not the prime minister, but the regent." Even the prime minister was not satisfied and regarded himself as the regent.

This made Zhu Youjian more determined to weaken the cabinet and not allow the cabinet's power to continue to expand.

His approach is to raise the status of Jiuqing. First, he needs Jiuqing to be complete and make a louder voice.

The matter of the vacancy of the Nine Ministers in Tingtui has been decided at the last court meeting, and a notice was sent out yesterday to inform the ministers of the candidates.

The most important thing in the Chang Dynasty today is the promotion of the Minister of Punishment and the censors of both left and right, as well as the vacant position of Minister.

Su Maoxiang had been active in the position of Minister of Punishment for a long time. After getting the emperor's approval and not being taken down by the emperor for any reason, he smoothly became the main candidate.

Zhu Youjian also appointed Su Maoxiang as Minister of Punishment as promised. He, the former governor of Cangchang, the minister of household affairs, finally became the minister and became one of the nine ministers.

　"Chongzhen Changbian":
　　In the eleventh month of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, Xin Mao: Su Maoxiang, the Minister of Household Affairs and the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of Cangchang, was still changed to the Minister of the Ministry of Punishments with the title of Prince Taifu.

　　"Da Ming Huidian" Household Department:
　　A member of the Governor-General Cangchang [In the fifth year of Xuande, a member of the Shangshu of the headquarters was added to oversee Cangchang. Later, he may use a servant. He has no fixed title and does not manage department affairs.

　　Jiajing Zhong and Ling were also in charge of agricultural affairs in Xiyuan. Longqingchu, stop and manage. In the ninth year of Wanli's reign, the revolution was made, and the left minister of the headquarters was ordered to take charge of it. Reset in eleven years].

　　"Wanli Yehuobian":
　　[Sanzhao Pavilion] Jiangling takes the world as its own responsibility, and those who flatter its ministers often say: "I am not a minister, but a photographer."

　　It is not wrong to say that the calligraphy was taken in Jiangling, but only two people, Ji Dan and Xin Mang, can be said to be three in the past.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)