Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 285: Ming Dynasty’s Show of Strength
The selection of the ministers was obviously greatly affected by this, but the emperor, as the matter of the pilgrimage from foreign vassal states was important, requested on the spot that the ministers and the governor-general of the grain transport system be recommended the next day.

Ever since the grain transport army had a navy to protect the grain, the term "supervising military affairs" was no longer part of the duties of the governor of the grain transport system.

But it is still the Right Censor-in-Chief, the second rank, as per convention.

Li Sancai worked in this position for eight years, and was unable to advance to the current position of prime minister, nor was he able to become a minister in Beijing. Instead, he became the right commander of the central army.

Although he is still a second-rank official, does this mean that the emperor does not value him?

If he was not valued, how could he become a civil servant who had been vacant for many years and had jurisdiction over the Beijing camp?

But if we talk about important positions, he was still a second-rank official and went to the Privy Council.

The court officials had no idea what Li Sancai felt.

But on the fourth day of July, the court would begin to nominate the Minister of Works, the Minister of Punishments, the Minister of Revenue in Nanjing, and the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Beijing Censorate.

Four second-grade ones in one breath.

There were already enough people involved, and the ministers were unable to respond quickly and had no time to communicate their opinions with each other.

Shen Li took advantage of the large number of votes in the Censorate and pushed too hard when recommending the Minister of Personnel in the court. The price he paid was that Li Tingji, whom he was familiar with, was transferred away.

Ye Xianggao also played some tricks, and the price he paid was that he was transferred from the position of Taichang Zai to the position of Chief Minister of the Secretariat.

This time during the court recommendation, the ministers were relatively cautious.

Everyone knows that this is not the end: the second-rank and third-rank officials have been moved, and they will still need to be replenished later.

Focus your thoughts and energy on those positions.

So on the fifth day of July, after the list of candidates was presented to the emperor, it was decided neatly:
The Minister of Revenue in Nanjing was replaced by Zhao Shiqing, the Minister of Works was replaced by He Shengrui, the Minister of Punishments was replaced by the current Right Censor-in-Chief Huang Kexun, and the Left Censor-in-Chief was replaced by Zhu Guozuo.

So it’s not over yet. Two second-rank positions, the Minister of Rites, the Minister of Revenue and the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, have become vacant again.

The court officials had no time to think about the operation of changing the Beijing Minister of Revenue to the Nanjing Minister of Revenue, as the key positions of Minister of Rites and Minister of Revenue had to be nominated and selected at court the next day.

In this way, Wang Yingjiao, recommended by Wang Xijue, became the Minister of Revenue, Fang Congzhe became the Minister of Rites, and the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate was taken over by Niu Yingyuan, who was transferred from the Governor of Yingtian to the Governor of Huguang.

At this point, there were still many positions left: the Governor-General of the Grand Canal and the Governor of Huguang were vacant again, the left and right vice ministers of the Ministry of Justice were gone, and they all went to the Privy Council; the right vice minister of the Ministry of Revenue and the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites both directly served as the Shangshu, so the right vice ministers of the two ministries had to be selected; there was also an additional vice minister vacancy in the Ministry of Works.

Zhu Changluo was no longer too concerned about these positions for the time being.

In front of him, except for Xiao Daheng, the other four ministers were all there.

"Before I go to Zunhua, let's decide on the candidates."

Zhu Changluo only left Shen Li and Li Tingji.

"You are all old and prudent ministers. You should understand why I made such an arrangement."

Shen Li replied, "I understand. I will establish this rule for your majesty and the Ming Dynasty."

Zhu Changluo nodded and finally spoke only to Li Tingji.

"In the Jinxian Academy, Shen Rumo was first appointed as the Grand Secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and then Ye Zhongshu was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites." Zhu Changluo said, "I know that there will be discussions in the court from now on. Er Zhang has always had a good reputation and is strict with himself, but as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Er Zhang still needs to think about how to contribute to the country."

"I respectfully listen."

Zhu Changluo looked at him and said, "I know you are biased and stubborn, and you attach great importance to education. The Jinxian Academy is to train talents and select talents for the country. If you can be biased in this regard, it will be a great achievement."

As the situation developed, since the focus had to be shifted to managing the external vassal states, Zhu Changluo lowered his expectations for domestic affairs.

Li Tingji was not a person who could make innovative efforts in academic research, but his own clean conduct and principles as an official, as well as his experience in officialdom that emphasized education, ensured that he would at least not do too badly in the remaining years of his life.

Zhu Changluo was mentally prepared for the Jinxianyuan Taichangzai to wait for Xu Guangqi or someone else.

The Privy Council of the Military Academy is special, and its counterpart, the Jinxian Academy of the Literary Academy, is also special.

The two ministries below it, the Ministry of Personnel, had such great powers that there was even an unspoken rule that high-ranking officials were not suitable for entering the cabinet. And the Minister of Rites, the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, had always been a shortcut to entering the cabinet.

Personnel matters are always important and sensitive. The Ministry of Rites is in charge of the training and selection of reserve talents, and the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the examination and promotion of officials. How should Taichang Zai deal with this?

Shen Shixing understood this measure but could not do it, and Ye Xianggao also did not understand it and could not do it well.

The emperor's instructions to Li Tingji now were nothing more than to let him concentrate on the affairs of the Ministry of Rites and do a good job in education. As for the examination and promotion of officials, he only needed to play a role model of integrity.

As for the ideological guidance and academic innovation work that should have been undertaken by the Minister of Rites, Zhu Changluo was prepared to take it on himself.

As other important official positions successively nominated candidate lists and Zhu Changluo selected officials, time unknowingly came to July 15th.

After the Wangri court meeting, Zhu Changluo was about to leave Beijing again. Before leaving, the Privy Council and the Ministry of Rites made preparations.

"The three guards of Doyan no longer have three chieftains, but have long been divided into 36 families, large and small." The new Minister of War Shen Yongmao got into the role very quickly and listed everything, "The big families married the daughters of the big Tatar families, and the small families took their wives and daughters as concubines of the Tatar princes. This was the case in the later years of Emperor Shi Miao."

After saying this, he looked at the emperor and said in disbelief, "The Tianshu Camp has reported that the leaders of the seventeen families have been captured. I congratulate Your Majesty."

It was only after he arrived at the Privy Council and came into contact with military affairs that he learned that the operation had been launched after the emperor went to Zunhua.

Almost half of the thirty-six leaders of the three Doyan guards originally appointed by the Ming Dynasty were captured in one go. Now, no one knows what kind of waves this has caused outside the border wall.

Zhu Changluo was concerned: "How much damage?"

"Twenty-seven people were killed in the battle and ninety-eight were brought back." Tian Le added.

Zhu Changluo nodded.

"What about the Beiyang Fleet?" Zhu Changluo asked, "Has Shen Yourong arrived?"

"Commander Shen will travel north from Fujian by sea and will reach Dagu around July 22."

"That's about right."

Shen Yourong is the strongest candidate that the Ming Dynasty can put forward in the field of naval warfare after Chen Lin.

In the seventh year of Wanli's reign, he ranked fourth in the Nanzhili military examination. After joining the army, he was always in the direction of coastal defense, which was rare.

He participated in the Korean War to Aid the Japanese, but he was able to enter the vision of the senior officials of the Privy Council after he arrived in Fujian.

In recent years, the southeastern coast of the Ming Dynasty has not been peaceful.

In the second year of Taichang, Shen Yourong led the officers and soldiers of the Coast Defense Department in Fujian to Taiwan, now known as Taiyuan Island or Dongfan, and defeated a group of Japanese pirates.

In the fourth year of Taichang, he fought another battle in the Penghu area with the Dutch who wanted to come here to look for opportunities.

Zhu Changluo gave him the opportunity to go from a mere lieutenant general of a provincial governor to the admiral of the Beiyang Fleet, which was directly under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council and under the command of the Left Army Governor's Office.

The Privy Council has already made preparations, and the Jinxian Academy and the Ministry of Rites only need to prepare for the ceremonial system of the audience.

On July 18, Zhu Changluo left Beijing again.

Li Chengliang still went with him, but this time Tian Le stayed.

He and Wang Xijue, together with Zhang Weixian and Dayun, formed a temporary team to stabilize the capital.

The guards were replaced by the Yongwei Battalion, led by Qin Liangyu and his wife.

At this moment, Nalinbulu and Nurhaci led their people to the outside of Shanhaiguan respectively.

Before they had time to talk, Wang Chengxun started testing the guns of his newly developed warship on the sea outside Shanhaiguan.

The latest achievement of the military industrial park is the Mingwei cannon, and more than thirty of them can be installed on a new warship of 1,500 tons.

Shanhaiguan Laolongtou plunges directly into the sea. To its northeast is a curved bay that is not very deep.

In fact, it is next to the northern end of the city wall near the sea, just where a small river flows into the sea.

But this is where it can be seen clearly.

Xiong Tingbi looked at Nurhaci and Nalinbulu and said calmly, "Since Korea was in civil strife and tribute had stopped, many people took the risk to come here to pay tribute in false names. It was a group of thieves who pretended to be an envoy and didn't know the rules and ran straight to Shanhaiguan."

Outside the mouth of the creek, a Korean ship was already on fire and sinking. Nurhaci and Nalinbulu had solemn looks in their eyes.

Why do we need to do this to show our power?

They also heard the news from North Korea.

After the king passed away, Gwanghaegun Yi Hui was in the process of eliminating his brothers and dissidents, but he heard that Gyeongsang Province and Gangwon Province had rebelled.

Why are they trying to extort tribute at this time? Wasn't the tribute trade between Korea and Ming only carried out in the border market around Liubao, Kuandian?
It's all for them to see!

The Ming Dynasty gave them such a warning, but they, who lived in the bitter and cold mountains and forests, did not feel much, only a little.

Does His Majesty the Emperor want to tell them that this pilgrimage will not be easy?
Using warships to show your power is a bit problematic, isn't it?

Forgot the time



(End of this chapter)