I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 230 (The following appears to be a list of county names and their corresponding names): Na County, Wa County, She County, Ping County
In the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty, factions gathered from the countryside, and the countryside prospered because of these factions.

We were all serving in the same court, and when we first met, I would say, "I'm from such-and-such place"; "What a coincidence, me too! We're from the same hometown!"; "Yes, yes, we're from the same hometown."

Accents and place of origin can naturally bring people closer together.

For example, the majority of the provincial officials were from Shanxi. Yang Bo's hometown of Puzhou also benefited, with people from Puzhou running money exchange businesses throughout the Ming Dynasty.

Whether people are related or not depends on their place of origin.

However, the concept of being from the same hometown should never be openly discussed.

Chen Guanzheng, as expected of Hai Rui's student, possessed keen insight. He immediately saw the problems with this imperial examination in the capital.

Upon hearing this, a group of officials in the capital began pointing and commenting on the list.

"Look, Guo Qilin is from Na County, Shanxi. He is first-class in all four categories and untouched by any of the eight methods!"

"Look at Yan Hexiang, he's from Waxian County, Shanxi. Besides spending all day in the duty room smirking and bragging, what other skills does this guy have? He even managed to get a fourth-class first-class ranking, and he's completely untouched by the eight methods!"

"Damn it! Gao Feng just made a mistake in a case involving an uncle and sister-in-law having an affair, with the sister-in-law having an affair with her father-in-law for the sake of the family property, and the brother-in-law seducing his concubine. He was reprimanded by our Ministry of Justice officials. How can he be considered a first-class offender, completely unfit for the law?"

"This Gao Feng is from Chua County, Shanxi! He's a fellow townsman of the Minister and Minister of Personnel!"

"Oh dear! My subordinate Hou Zhen is also a fourth-class student, completely ignorant of the eight methods of mathematics! He's a bookworm who's gone mad, completely clueless about arithmetic. As a clerk in the Ministry of Revenue, he has to count on his fingers to do addition and subtraction of numbers up to ten! I just reported to the magistrate that he should be demoted to guard the granary against rats. How can someone like that be a fourth-class student, completely ignorant of the eight methods of mathematics?"

"This guy is from Ping County, Shanxi!"

Sun Yue remarked to himself, "How come Shanxi has so many unique county names?"

Lin Shisan broke out in a cold sweat. What was going on? All the dozen or so mediocre officials from Shanxi he had met were also first-class officials, completely untouched by the eight rules.

Questioning turned into anger. An overwhelming rage!
Your Ministry of Personnel is being unfair; you want to strip us of our official positions. Yet, officials from Shanxi who are in the same region as your chief and right-hand officials all received top marks in the capital examinations and have bright futures?
This is outrageous!

This is outrageous!
A torrent of anger surged before the Ministry of Personnel.

"Go to the lobby! Find Yang Bo, Liu Jin, and Zhang Siwei and demand an explanation!"

"Lin Shisan, if you stop us, you are protecting a major malpractice in the Imperial Censorate!"

"Brothers! For the sake of discipline! For the sake of justice! Charge with me! Storm into the Ministry of Personnel and capture the three officials alive!"

Lin Shisan originally intended to order the Embroidered Uniform Guard to stop him.

On second thought, what is there to stop?

Such a blatant corruption has emerged in the capital's inspection. Shouldn't the three high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Personnel be held accountable?

If I were to stop him, wouldn't that be exactly what that person just said, making me a scapegoat for the serious malpractice of the imperial inspection?
Lin Shisan said loudly, "Gentlemen, I will not stop you from entering the Ministry of Personnel. But please, if you have something to say, say it. Do not smash things, and especially do not lay a hand on the officials!"

"You should know that a gentleman uses words, not fists! Those who use both words and fists are just prostitutes from Guixianglou!"

The physician, who had just been grieving, perked up: "Don't worry! We'll only reason with them, we won't resort to violence. Unless they're completely unreasonable!"

In the Ming Dynasty's imperial court, there were numerous incidents of colleagues fighting each other.

When these scholars who passed the imperial examinations on both the first and second rounds of the civil service exam went mad, they were no different from street thugs. They would throw punches at each other and roll around on the ground in a heap.

During the Chenghua reign, there was even an incident where a Grand Secretary, carrying a butcher's knife in his sleeve, stood on the palace path intending to stab the Grand Secretary.

Fortunately, Old Yang Bo was a seasoned civil official who could keep the situation under control.

The so-called ability to "keep things in check" only meant preventing the angry officials from taking action.

Yang Bo was subjected to a barrage of insults and abuse by the Beijing officials who stormed into the hall. He could only listen attentively.

What can be done if we don't listen attentively? For the past two months, although Yang Bo was in the Ministry of Personnel, he had been preoccupied with the political struggle over opening up the sea and opening up customs.

He entrusted most of the matters concerning the Beijing inspection to Zhang Siwei, thus overlooking the major oversight that all officials from Shanxi received excellent ratings.

The fault lies with me. I must stand at attention even when I'm being hit! I must stand at attention even when I'm being scolded!
Fearing that the officials in Beijing might take action and injure Yang Bo, Lin Shisan led his men to stand at the entrance of the main hall. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, he would lead his men inside to protect Yang Bo.

After a while, Lin Shisan realized that harsh words were more vicious than fists.

Poor old Yang Bo was subjected to a barrage of insults directed at his ancestors, without uttering a single curse word. It was as if all of Yang Bo's past achievements had been wiped out by this major corruption scandal in the capital.

The officials cursed Yang Bo from dawn until noon, and then from noon until evening.

During this time, Yang Bo went to the latrine twice, and came back to be scolded after he finished.

As evening approached, the bellies of the officials in the capital began to rumble.

Besides the shouts and curses, Yang Bo could also hear the rumbling stomachs of the officials in Beijing.

Yang Bo cupped his hands and said, "Colleagues, it's too late today. I will investigate this matter thoroughly. Please go back and calm down."

The officials in Beijing readily accepted the situation and dispersed.

Lin Shisan entered the main hall.

Yang Bo, known for his fiery temper, picked up the official seal of the Ministry of Personnel and threw it at his nephew-in-law, Zhang Siwei.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Zhang Siwei didn't dare to dodge. He was practically possessed by Ishizaki, taking the large seal that Yang Bo threw at him with his face.

The imperial seal, cast in bronze and gilded, weighed over a pound. "Crack!" Blood flowed down Zhang Siwei's official hat.

Left Vice Minister Liu Jin hurriedly tried to smooth things over: "Minister Yang, please calm down, please calm down!"

Yang Bo cursed, "I entrusted the matter of the capital inspection to you. And what have you done? Zhang Siwei, I really misjudged you!"

Zhang Siwei removed his official hat, one hand covering his bleeding wound, and knelt before Yang Bo, saying, "Minister, this is a coincidence! A misunderstanding!"

"I established the Four Categories and Eight Methods fairly and impartially for the officials in Beijing. Who would have thought that our fellow Shanxi officials would be so impressive?"

At this point, Zhang Siwei had no choice but to remain stubborn and deny everything. If he admitted to cheating in the imperial examination, even forty-eight heads wouldn't be enough to stop him from being beheaded.

Lin Shisan said, "Lord Yang, please calm down. Men, quickly stop Zhang Youtang's bleeding and bandage his wounds."

Yang Bo was so angry with Zhang Siwei that he trembled all over: "Zhang Siwei, you have ruined my reputation!"

Zhang Siwei muttered to himself, "It really is a coincidence. There's no story without coincidences."

Lin Shisan thought to himself: It would be truly unbelievable if it were just a coincidence. Oh, are people from Shanxi better at being officials than those from the other two capitals and twelve provinces? Are they all upright people?

Even the cleanest excrement can have a few maggots crawling out!
It seems our Northern Garrison Command is in for another job. The Emperor will surely issue an order for the Northern Garrison Command to thoroughly investigate this matter.

Yang Bo raged for a while, but eventually calmed down.

He said, “I am the head of the Ministry of Personnel. If any official impeaches me, I am willing to bear all the consequences. Zhang Siwei, write your resignation memorial!”

Zhang Siwei cried out, "Minister, I'm innocent!"

Yang Bo gave a bitter smile: "Whether I'm innocent or not, only God knows."

The grand plan of the capital inspection has turned into a major problem. The court, already on edge over the opening of the sea routes, is now facing another political upheaval.

(End of this chapter)