Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 741 Beijing Inspection
Wen Tiren had always been at odds with the Donglin Party, and the two sides had fought openly and secretly for many times. How could he let Fang Fengnian off so easily in this matter?

Wen Tiren immediately refuted the fallacy in Fang Fengnian's words. Fang Fengnian clearly wanted to smooth things over first and then leave it for later. How could Wen Tiren give him this opportunity? He directly asked Fang Fengnian what he meant. Did he really think that Gong Dingzi died in an accident as stated in the memorial? Or was it because the situation in Jinzhou was temporarily put on hold?
"Damn Wen Tiren!" Fang Fengnian was furious. Wen Tiren was right. He had indeed planned to do so. If Chen Xinjia followed his idea and let Yang Tinglin go to Jinzhou, the Donglin Party would lose another general. How could Fang Fengnian watch this happen? Moreover, Fang Fengnian had the same idea as Yang Tinglin. They both thought that Gong Dingzi's death was too strange. But now was not a good time to investigate the matter. He should put it aside for now and wait for an opportunity to investigate it later.

But Wen Tiren saw through his plan immediately and questioned him in front of everyone, which put Fang Fengnian in a dilemma.

If he said to put it on hold for the time being, then not only Wen Tiren, but also Yang Sichang, Chen Xinjia, Xu Xiancheng and others would certainly oppose it, and Yang Tinglin's going to Jinzhou might be decided. Jinzhou is not a good place to go now. Didn't you see that Yang Tinglin's face turned pale?
But if we confirm that the Gong Dingzi case was an accident and admit that there is no problem with what was said in the memorial from Jinzhou, then the Gong Dingzi case will be concluded and it will be impossible to reopen the case in the future.

In an instant, several thoughts went through Fang Fengnian's mind. Fang Fengnian finally gritted his teeth and said, "I think Gong Dingzi's incident was just an accident. There is no need to investigate further!"

As soon as these words were spoken, several Donglin Party leaders sighed in their hearts, while several young officials in the Donglin Party showed indignation on their faces. Fang Fengnian's answer was tantamount to admitting that Gong Dingzi's death was an accident, which made many people in the Donglin Party feel grieved for the loss of the rabbit.

But what can Fang Fengnian do? Can't he just deny it? If he denies it, then the situation will return to the previous situation. Then, under the pretext of strictly investigating Gong Dingzi's case, Yang Tinglin will have to go to Jinzhou to die. Gong Dingzi is gone, so he can't lose Yang Tinglin in vain, right?
Even Yang Tinglin himself was like this. Although he looked a little indignant, he was also relieved. With Fang Fengnian smoothing things over for him, he didn't have to go to Liaodong, right? His life could be saved.

"Lord Yang, what do you think?" Wen Tiren was relentless and asked Yang Tinglin directly.

Yang Tinglin hesitated. Although he wanted to say that he disagreed with the result, his mind told him that he absolutely couldn't say that. He opened his mouth and finally replied, "I agree with what Lord Fang said..."

"Skeleton!"

"Little man!"

"People who are greedy for life and afraid of death!"

"Shame of Donglin!"

After Yang Tinglin said this, many eyes in the court turned towards him and changed. If Yang Tinglin still insisted on finding out the truth for his friend at this time, everyone would still admire him. At least Yang Tinglin's Donglin spirit was still there. Even if he went to Jinzhou and the final result was unpredictable, Yang Tinglin could still win everyone's respect.

But now Yang Tinglin has made such a choice. It is clear that he does not dare to go to Jinzhou. For the sake of his life and property, he even ignores the truth about his friend's death.

Fang Fengnian's decision can be forgiven, after all, he did it for Yang Tinglin's sake. But your statement is completely different. Are you worthy of Gong Dingzi? Are you worthy of the spirit of Donglin? In addition, you, Yang Tinglin, were so angry just now that you wanted to ask Gong Dingzi for an explanation, but your attitude changed so drastically in the blink of an eye. Why is it so? Don't you understand?
Feeling the gazes coming from all directions, Yang Tinglin felt like he was on edge, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. At this moment, he regretted very much in his heart, regretting that he should not have said what he agreed with just now. If he gritted his teeth and insisted on denying it, then people would not look at him that way.

But if he insisted, he would have to go to Jinzhou. Jinzhou was now a dangerous place. Regardless of how the battle would end, Gong Dingzi's death was inexplicable, and he would definitely not have a good ending if he went there. Even if he escaped Huang Taiji's interception and reached Jinzhou, Yang Tinglin would face the same fate as Gong Dingzi, either falling to death, dying in battle, or choking to death while eating? Choking to death while drinking water? All kinds of strange ways of death suddenly emerged from his mind, making Yang Tinglin very scared.

After weighing the pros and cons, Yang Tinglin finally felt that his life was the most important thing, and it was not worth it to die in vain. Besides, what if he suffered a temporary grievance? As the saying goes, if you keep the green mountains, you will not be afraid of running out of firewood. In the past, Goujian slept on firewood and tasted gall, and Han Xin even suffered the humiliation of being kicked in the crotch. Today, Yang Tinglin is just imitating the ancients, so what's wrong with that?

Finally figuring it out, Yang Tinglin ignored the gazes directed at him, bowed to Zhu Shenzui who was in the right seat, and then returned to his original position without saying a word.

Seeing this result, Zhu Shenzhui immediately announced that the matter was over and concluded with Fang Fengnian's conclusion. The court gave Gong Dingzi a pension, especially for his death in battle, and gave his son a title of Jinyi Baihu. After dealing with this matter, no one mentioned the re-establishment of the post of Ningqian Bingbei Dao again. These officials were all smart people. How could they not know that the situation in Jinzhou was dangerous? Although the post of Ningqian Bingbei Dao was important, going to Jinzhou at this time was more dangerous than good. Who would have the courage to recommend themselves? Didn't you see that even Yang Tinglin, who had just shouted, had lost his temper? If I come out and talk about this matter again, maybe this job will fall on my head. Everyone is not stupid, how could they do this?
Zhu Shenzhu did not publicly ask how to rescue Jinzhou, because he knew that once this question was raised, there would be no result. Most people in the court did not understand military affairs at all, and there were also people like the Donglin Party making trouble. Discussing here was a pure waste of time and no results would be achieved.

Zhu Shenzhui only stated that he would discuss this with the cabinet and the Ministry of War separately to come up with a proper plan, so he would not discuss it today. This was recognized by Wen Tiren and Yang Sichang. With the statements of the cabinet chief and the minister of war, everyone also acquiesced. After all, this matter was too big and it was not something that ordinary officials could intervene in.

Just when everyone thought that today's court meeting would end like this, Xu Xiancheng stood up.

"Your Highness, I have something to report!"

"What's the matter?"

"It has been more than a month since I took office as the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. I have carefully reviewed the cases of the Censorate over the years and found a problem. According to the old rules, the court should conduct a capital inspection every six years, but for some reason it has not been implemented. I believe that the capital inspection system was established when the Ming Dynasty was founded. This system is extremely important and cannot be neglected. As the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, I earnestly request Your Highness to restore the capital inspection and evaluate officials to clear the government!"

When Xu Xiancheng said this, many people were shocked. The Beijing inspection system was set up by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. It was an assessment system for officials in Beijing. It mainly assessed the performance and ability of officials, as well as their integrity, achievements in office and other aspects.

To put it simply, this system is an important management system for officials by the court. Through this system, officials are evaluated to achieve the effect of promoting the capable and demoting the incompetent, promoting the honest and demoting the corrupt. However, since the middle of the Wanli period, due to the Wanli Emperor's laxity in government affairs, he did not attend court for many years and even did not see the ministers, and this system gradually became a mere formality.

After Emperor Tianqi ascended the throne, he promoted Wei Zhongxian, and the eunuch party ran rampant in the court. No one mentioned the imperial examination. After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the imperial examination system was not restored. The court was basically controlled by the Donglin Party. Emperor Chongzhen was always overwhelmed by internal and external troubles, so how could he even think about the imperial examination?

Although the Beijing Inspection System has always existed and the superficial assessment of officials has never stopped, in fact it is very different from the original Beijing Inspection System and is completely a formality and a mere show.

Today, Xu Xiancheng suddenly pointed out the problem of the Beijing Inspection, which shocked everyone and made them wary.

The Beijing Inspection System targets officials below the fifth rank in Beijing. It seems to have nothing to do with high-ranking officials like the Shangshu of the Six Ministries, the Shilang of the Six Ministries, and the Cabinet Elders. However, one must know that officials below the fifth rank are the largest group of officials in Beijing, and officials such as the Jishizhong of the Six Ministries and the Yushi are right within the scope of the assessment. Most of these people are the backbone of the civil service group, and even more than half of them are members of the Donglin Party.

To put it bluntly, don't be fooled by the righteousness and morality these trolls talk about in the court. They often attack their political opponents from the moral high ground, and they look like they are concerned about the country and the people. But in fact, there is a pile of shit behind these people's butts. None of them is clean. If they are not investigated, there will be nothing wrong. Once they are investigated, there will be all problems. Before, the Beijing inspection was in name only, and everyone was naturally free and easy. But today Xu Xiancheng suddenly proposed to restore the Beijing inspection. Who would not be panicked?

In an instant, several bigwigs understood Xu Xiancheng's intention, and they also knew that the reason why Xu Xiancheng raised the Beijing inspection issue was simply Zhu Shenzhui's intention.

Who doesn't know the relationship between Xu Xiancheng and Zhu Shenzhu? If this matter was not instigated by Zhu Shenzhu, they would not believe it even if they were beaten to death.

But it was impossible to oppose it directly. First, Xu Xiancheng was the Right Censor-in-Chief, the second in command of the Censorate. The Censorate was in charge of the imperial examination system, which was Xu Xiancheng's job. Second, the system was established by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and had never been abolished. The fact that the system existed in name only over the years did not mean that the system was gone. Xu Xiancheng's request to restart the imperial examination in the name of the Right Censor-in-Chief was justified.

In addition, although Xu Xiancheng was Zhu Shenzhu's brother-in-law, Xu Xiancheng was quite famous among the literati. Not only was he a genuine Jinshi, he was also one of the founders of Fushe. Fushe had developed extremely rapidly in recent years. Many years ago, Fushe was known as the "Little Donglin Party", and now Fushe was catching up. Xu Xiancheng was surrounded by a group of people from Fushe. Although these people held low positions and were young, they were full of enthusiasm. More importantly, they were fearless and even more radical than the Donglin Party. No one wanted to provoke them easily.

(End of this chapter)