Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 345 Jiajing forcibly manipulates the court to crack down on cliques!
The Minister of Personnel Zhao Huang soon arrived before the emperor.

Zhu Houcong informed Zhao Huang of Zhang Cong's report on the nomination, and said, "Please explain why the main nominee for the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was Min Kai, and the supporting nominee was Zhang Zhongxian?"

Zhao Huang closed his eyes slightly.

Subsequently.

Zhao Huang replied, "Your Majesty, the Ministry of Personnel has prepared a list of candidates for the post of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel in accordance with the imperial decree. The names are arranged strictly according to their performance, seniority, and personal qualities."

"Min and Zhang were included in the preliminary list by the Ministry of Personnel because their test scores were quite good and their qualifications were up to the level of officials in the ministry. More importantly, they were both stable people among their peers. For example, even if Zhang Zhongxian was accused of corruption, there was no evidence. More importantly, even if he was accused of corruption, he did a good job in disaster relief during his tenure as the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture."

"So, it is really unfair for the Grand Marshal to blame me for only favoring those who oppose the great ceremony!"

"I have always supported the great ceremony set by Your Majesty."

"Right now, the Ministry of Personnel is planning to recruit these people, but there is no other way."

"Because Your Majesty has been on the throne for less than six years, and has only selected new Jinshi four times, the earliest batch of Jinshi selected by Your Majesty have only been in the official career for a few years, so they cannot be promoted to officials in ministries and courts. As for the selection of ministers and officials, naturally only those who passed the exams during the Hongzhi and Zhengde periods can be selected."

"Therefore, please understand the difficulty of my selection and appointment!"

After Zhao Huang said this, he bowed deeply.

Zhang Cong then said, "Your Majesty, although this is true, it does not mean that there are no people who support the great ceremony among those who passed the imperial examinations during the Hongzhi and Zhengde periods! It is simply that the Grand Chancellor intends to exclude the ministers who support honoring your Majesty's biological parents!"

Zhao Huang blushed immediately and bowed to the ground: "Your Majesty, please forgive me! I have no such intention. The Grand Marshal is resenting me for not marrying the person he likes, and he is deliberately slandering me!"

Zhu Houcong then looked at Zhang Cong and asked: "Who do you think is useful among those who support the great ceremony?"

Zhang Cong replied, "Wen Renhe, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and the Chancellor of the Imperial Household, and Zhai Luan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, are both suitable candidates, but the Ministry of Personnel chose not to recommend one. I do not understand why."

"Your Majesty, the list of names recommended by the Ministry of Personnel was drafted by the Ministry of Literature. I just glanced over it, so I don't know why the Ministry of Literature didn't select these people."

"I beg Your Majesty to allow me to go back and ask the Ministry of Literature."

Zhao Huang said at this time.

Zhu Houcong knew that Zhao Huang was delaying the process on purpose. In order to punish the clique behind the court nomination and to allow Zhang Cong's imperial clique to grow stronger as soon as possible, he said, "Add the person Zhang Qing proposed and then nominate a new candidate!"

Zhao Huang was stunned.

But Zhao Huang didn't say much, he just kowtowed and agreed.

After Zhao Huang returned to the Ministry of Personnel, he summoned Wang Xuekui, a Langzhong of the Ministry of Personnel's Selection Department, and asked Wang Xuekui to redraft the list of candidates recommended by the court and add the names of Wen Renhe and Zhai Luan.

Wang Xuekui sighed after hearing this: "Your Majesty is indeed wise and enlightened. However, if we overturn the established list of nominees, there will be criticisms from both the government and the public! We in the Ministry of Personnel are caught in the middle and will be in a dilemma!"

"You are not wrong, but we have no other choice. Let's do as your majesty wishes."

Zhao Huang said.

Wang Xuekui nodded.

Therefore, the Ministry of Personnel took over the recommendation of the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel again.

The only two new candidates recommended by the court were Wen Renhe and Zhai Luan.

Because the Ministry of Personnel understood the emperor's intention, which was to make these two people the main and supporting candidates through court recommendation, in order to force the bureaucracy to obey his will.

The Ministry of Personnel did not dare to go against the emperor, so they naturally followed his will.

According to the rules, only the Nine Ministers were involved in recommending assistant ministers in the court.

As for the Nine Ministers who were able to remain in their positions, they had all become much more obedient and naturally did not dare to disobey the emperor's will. Therefore, they all followed the emperor's will and conducted another round of court nominations, with Wen Renhe being the main nominee and Zhai Luan being the accompanying nominee.

Zhu Houcong appointed Wen Renhe as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

Although the Nine Ministers and the Ministry of Personnel did not dare to disobey the emperor's will, Zhu Houcong's actions were indeed against the collective will of the bureaucracy.

Naturally, there are also fearless people who express their dissatisfaction with this.

On the night when Wen Renhe was officially appointed as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhao Huang was invited to the Jiangxi Guild Hall.

In order to take care of their fellow countrymen, wealthy people serving as officials in Beijing from all over the country would raise funds to set up guild halls in Beijing.

The guild halls were usually places where officials, gentry and candidates for imperial examinations from the same hometown would stay and gather.

As an important official from Jiangxi, Zhao Huang was the main investor in the Jiangxi Guild Hall, and even some of his clansmen were directly involved in the management of the guild hall.

Therefore, if other officials wanted to avoid the spies of the Jinyiwei of the East Factory, they could ask the people of Jiangxi Guild Hall to meet him secretly at the Guild Hall. When Zhao Huang, who was in plain clothes, arrived at Jiangxi Guild Hall, he saw that Tong Rui, the Minister of Justice, Wang Shizhong and Min Kai, Wu Jing, the Jijiu of the Imperial College, Du Tong and Yang Yan, and other officials had gathered there in plain clothes.

"Why do you want to see me?"

Zhao Huang asked as soon as he arrived.

Wang Shizhong looked at Wu Jing at this time: "Master Wu, please speak. Since you represent Mr. Duizhai's opinion, you should ask it."

Wu Jing said: "Okay!"

Then, Wu Jing looked at Zhao Huang and said, "Why do you ask this question when you know the answer? Since you are in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, you should uphold the policy of selection. How can you allow Your Majesty to overturn the imperial nomination at will and mess up the policy of selection?"

“Is this something I can hold onto?”

Zhao Huang immediately asked back.

At this time, Du Tong, the chief secretary, stood up and said, "You should fight for it!"

"How can I fight?"

Zhao Huang stood up and asked, "The emperor of today really killed the party! You know that, let alone directly opposing His Majesty, even if you say that the ministers around him are corrupt and disorderly, it will anger him! What good will it do for you to anger His Majesty and let me behead him and confiscate his property? In the end, won't it make it easier for Zhang Fujing and others to make faster progress?"

After Zhao Huang said this, Du Tong clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and said nothing.

Obviously, he had to admit that what Zhao Huang said made sense.

"The Grand Chancellor is right. Your Majesty is no longer a mediocre ruler. As long as the Holy Spirit does not want me to become the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, then I will not be the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

Min Kai echoed at this time.

Wu Jing's face was gloomy at this time. He stopped blaming Zhao Huang and looked at the Minister of Justice Tong Rui. He said, "What do you plan to do about the case reported by the Censorate that Zhang Yin was impersonated by the evil thief Li Fuda?"

Tong Rui said, "Before Fei Qianshan left the capital, he gave us an oral order to the Ministry of Justice, asking us not to implicate Marquis Wu Ding and the two uncles of the emperor! It is not important whether this case is a false accusation or not. Whether to let Zhang Yin die or let him live can also be determined by the opinions of the officials. Your Majesty does not intend to go against the court officials for a Zhang Yin."

Wu Jing snorted and sneered, "If we don't use this to punish Marquis Wu Ding and the two uncles, then there is no point in Ma Lu bringing up this case!"

"In my opinion, since His Majesty is unwilling to let our people be the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, then there is no need for us court officials to cooperate with him. The Ministry of Justice should still request the punishment of Marquis Wuding and the two uncles!"

"If Your Majesty does not agree, the people in the Imperial Academy will jointly impeach Wuding Hou Guo Xun and the two state uncles, saying that they are Li Fuda's backers, and ask the court to punish them together!"

After Wu Jing said this, Tong Rui, the Minister of Justice, asked, "Is it really okay for us to go against His Majesty's will like this?"

"Why, do you really want Mr. Duizhai to make public all the dirty things you did when you were in the Ministry of Works?!"

Wu Jing threatened Tong Rui.

Tong Rui took a deep breath.

These people were threatened and manipulated by Wu Jing and Peng Duizhai behind Wu Jing because they were once accomplices of Yang Tinghe and Peng Duizhai, and had many handles in the hands of these people. They were forced or voluntarily did some things that were not suitable for public display.

Therefore, no matter how unwilling Tong Rui was, he could only endure it and said: "We in the Ministry of Justice can do this, but there is no guarantee that we can really stop His Majesty! Moreover, if this further angers His Majesty, I hope you will understand the consequences!"

"What consequences could there be?"

"The inspection of the East is about to fail. The Southeast is about to be in chaos. Since Your Majesty is an eloquent ruler, you naturally understand what is the best thing to do at that time!"

Wu Jing sneered.

At this time, the Left Censor-in-Chief Wang Shizhong asked in astonishment: "So this is what you rely on?"

Wu Jing nodded: "Of course! But this cannot be said to be our reliance, but the reliance of the world's big families, including you!"

Wu Jing then asked Wang Shizhong and the others, "Do you really want to see His Majesty control all the officials as if they were his own fingers?"

Wang Shizhong, Tong Rui, and Zhao Huang, the three ministers present, were silent.

The next day.

Zhu Houcong received the verdict report from the Ministry of Justice on the case of Zhang Yin reported by Ma Lu, and the report called for the punishment of Guo Xun and the Marquis of Shouning and the Marquis of Jianchang.

When Zhu Houcong saw the question book, his lips twitched.

Because he had asked Fei Hong to inform the Ministry of Justice, but the Ministry of Justice still did this, not following his wishes and going against him. This simply showed that the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Justice did not take him, the emperor, seriously!

Perhaps it is not just the Ministry of Justice, but the entire bureaucracy that is resisting his will.

(End of this chapter)