Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 15 The Cabinet and the Harem

Wenyuan Pavilion is the office location of the Cabinet, located in the Hanlin Academy, just to the right of the Meridian Gate.

After the eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department moved the memorials back to the Wenyuan Pavilion, Liu Jian, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian also officially began to deal with the memorials.

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian were already familiar with each other. Liu Jian had also worked in the Hanlin Academy before and was also the superior of Li Dongyang and Xie Qian.

Therefore, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian naturally took Liu Jian as their leader and nominated him as the chief minister of the cabinet.

"Lord Liu, do you have any suitable candidates for these six ministers?"

Li Dongyang considered it and asked Liu Jian for advice.

Liu Jian smiled and said in a kind tone: "Haha, Binzhi, you and I are both cabinet ministers, there is no need to be so reserved, just call me Xixian."

"There are currently three vacancies for ministers in the Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Revenue, and Ministry of Works."

"In my opinion, the position of the Minister of Personnel can be given to Wang Shu, the former Minister of War of Nanzhili."

"Wang Shu was originally the left judge of the Dali Temple, and later served as the governor of Ganzhou, the governor of Yuzhou, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Justice of Nanzhili, the minister of the Ministry of War of Nanzhili and the left deputy censor-in-chief."

"He served in more than ten positions, and he was upright, honest, and strict, and he was always consistent."

"He has outstanding political achievements and is well-known in the government. Not only can he be appointed as the Minister of Personnel, he can even be recommended to join the cabinet."

Xie Qian was a little surprised: "Do we need to elect more cabinet ministers?"

There are only three of them in the cabinet now. If new ministers are elected to join the cabinet, wouldn’t that disperse the power in their hands?

Liu Jian: "Now is the time for Your Majesty to recruit more people, so you should recommend more wise and capable people to join the cabinet."

"We are all new to the cabinet and our foundation is not stable. It will always do us good to win over more people to join the cabinet."

"Besides, you two are too young. There must be some experienced ministers in the cabinet to better assist His Majesty."

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian looked at each other. Li Dongyang quickly figured out the interests involved and expressed his position immediately.

"I agree with Xixian's view that the number of cabinet members should be increased."

Both of them agreed to expand the cabinet, so Xie Qian naturally had nothing to say.

Liu Jian smiled and continued to nominate another Shangshu position.

"As for the vacant position of Minister of Revenue, I recommend Xu Pu, Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel."

"Xu Pu has a serious temperament, is principled in his work, is magnanimous and considerate of his subordinates, and has the style of an ancient minister."

"His way of governing by keeping calm and abiding by the law is just right for today's turbulent situation."

"I not only want to recommend him to the cabinet, but also want to nominate him as the chief minister of the cabinet."

"what?"

Li Dongyang and Xie Qian were both stunned.

Xie Qian blurted out: "Brother Xixian, we both personally recommend you to be the Prime Minister..."

Liu Jian smiled and shook his head: "I am still inexperienced and do not have the ability to be the Prime Minister."

Li Dongyang stood in awe: "Brother Xixian is of high character and integrity. He is not swayed by fame and fortune. He insists on selecting people who are virtuous. It is a blessing for the Ming Dynasty that Xixian enters the cabinet."

Xie Qian also felt a little emotional: "Brother Xixian is the one with a big heart. It's my short-sightedness that made Brother Xixian laugh at me."

Liu Jian smiled and cupped his hands: "I will eat your salary and share your worries."

"I am an official of the Ming Dynasty, and I should be loyal to the Ming Dynasty."

"Hahaha."

The three of them looked at each other and burst into laughter.

I wonder if Li Dongyang and Xie Qian, who are only about 40 years old, understand Liu Jian’s true thoughts.

Now that Zhu Youtang has reorganized the cabinet, they have been parachuted into the cabinet and are all rootless duckweed.

In fact, the cabinet had lost all power and had completely become a subordinate of Zhu Youtang.

If you want to increase the power of the cabinet, you naturally need to stick to the unity party.

The cabinet must have more loyal and experienced officials to have the capital to talk to Zhu Youtang. But he was unwilling to be the vanguard, so it was better to give the position of the chief minister to Xu Pu, an experienced official.

Liu Jian wanted to expand the power of the cabinet, but that did not mean that he had any second thoughts about Zhu Youtang.

The power struggle between the imperial power represented by the emperor and the power of the prime minister represented by the cabinet lasted throughout the Ming Dynasty.

This has nothing to do with who is chosen to join the cabinet, it only has to do with the position.

Any cabinet minister who enters the cabinet is committed to expanding the power of the cabinet.

So it’s not that Zhu Youtang was incapable of judging people. No matter who Zhu Youtang chose to join the cabinet, the result would be the same.

The relationship between Zhu Youtang and the cabinet can only be one of fighting and using.

Zhu Youtang had understood this a long time ago, but with the Censorate in his hands, he was not worried about how big a splash the cabinet would make.

If he could dissolve the cabinet once, he can dissolve it a second time.

……

While the three elders of Wenyuan Pavilion were discussing state affairs, the two empress dowagers in the harem were also thinking about Zhu Youtang's family and national affairs.

"My Lady, it's bad. Empress Wu has been honored as the Empress Dowager by His Majesty."

"Your Majesty has even asked her to take over the power of the Queen and manage the three palaces and six courtyards for Your Majesty!"

A young palace maid ran into Ciqing Palace and came to the side of Emperor Xianzong's legitimate empress, now Empress Dowager Wang, and whispered to her.

The cleansing of the harem last night affected a wide area, and even people in Ciqing Palace could hear unusual noises outside the palace.

So early in the morning, Queen Mother Wang asked her maid to go outside and find out what had happened last night.

I just didn't expect that something so serious would happen last night.

Queen Mother Wang, who was originally chanting Buddhist scriptures with her eyes closed, suddenly opened her eyes and frowned.

"Wu was named Empress Dowager? Shouldn't Empress Dowager Zhou be in charge of the palace now?"

"Your Highness, last night... His Majesty stripped Grand Empress Dowager Zhou of her title and banished her to Qingning Palace."

"What?!" Wang was so shocked that the Buddhist scriptures in her hand collapsed.

"Tell me everything you know."

"Yes, ma'am."

So the palace maid told Queen Mother Wang everything she had found out.

Zhu Youtang did not deliberately block the news of last night, so the eunuchs and maids in the palace more or less knew something about what happened last night.

After listening, Wang was silent for a long time, and suddenly chuckled.

Then the laughter became louder and louder, and the palace maids and eunuchs serving on the left and right were a little at a loss, and knelt down in fear and trepidation.

Wang felt extremely relieved, as if she had finally made it through.

Wang and Wu entered the Eastern Palace at the same time.

Before his death, Emperor Yingzong personally selected Wu to become Emperor Xianzong's Crown Princess, and she later successfully became the Empress.

But for unknown reasons, Emperor Xianzong deposed Consort Wu one month after she became empress, and then Consort Wang was made empress.

Although Emperor Xianzong made Wang his empress, she did not give birth to any children for him.

However, Emperor Xianzong had fourteen princes and six princesses.

The only explanation is that Emperor Xianzong never touched her.

But whether it was Wu or Wang who was the queen, they did not have real power to control the harem.

Power was firmly in the hands of Queen Dowager Zhou.

Now that Empress Dowager Zhou had been banished to Qingning Palace, the heavy mountain that had weighed on her head for more than twenty years was finally lifted.

(End of this chapter)