The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 188: Changing the Prime Minister
With the arrival of cold winter, even water placed outside at night will freeze.

The sky was also gloomy, and heavy snow seemed to be about to fall at any time.

At around noon, the palace was still shrouded in gray, as if there was only gray and black, and no other colors.

Shen Shixing walked alone in this gloomy atmosphere, looking like an old man in his twilight years, without any vitality.

He didn't know yet that he was about to be finished. He just thought that Wanli was looking for him to tell him something.

What else is going on at this moment?
How can we secretly trip up the little emperor at that time?
He walked and pondered, and soon arrived at the imperial study.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli said coldly, "Shen Shixing, tell me the truth. What did you order people to do in your hometown?"

Are you a dog?

If you say turn your face, turn your face!

Why should I tell you what I did in my hometown?
Shen Shixing gritted his teeth secretly, then pretended to be puzzled and said: "Your Majesty, what am I doing in my hometown without any orders?"

You bastard, you are still pretending to be me, right?

Wanli simply asked, "Why was Suzhou Prefect Shi Kunyu suddenly thrown into jail?"

This!
When Shen Shixing heard this, his heart trembled.

Shi Kunyu is a fool who doesn't know what's good for him. He even found out about his house. So he has to be dealt with quickly.

This guy has been thrown into the Suzhou prison. Who brought this to light?
He pretended to recall the incident and then argued, "Your Majesty, I'm not very clear about this matter. It was Li Lai, the governor of Suzhou and Songjiang, who reported that Shi Kunyu had embezzled tax silver from the treasury, so Li Lai had him thrown into prison."

You got away with it quite well.

Wanli said coldly: "You said Shi Kunyu embezzled the tax silver from the treasury. Shi Kunyu embezzled it. Where is the evidence? To catch a thief, we must seize the stolen goods."

This is no small matter, and must be made clear.

As for Li Lai, if he can smooth things over, he will do so. If he can't, he will just have to sell it off.

Shen Shixing argued bluntly, "Your Majesty, this matter was handled by Li Lai, the governor of Susong. I'm not very clear about this."

Wanli couldn't help but snorted coldly: "You don't know?
You are doing a great job as the Prime Minister. A fourth-rank prefect was thrown into jail and you didn't even know what was going on.

I have ordered people to check, and Suzhou Prefecture has paid all the taxes this year, without missing a single cent.

You said he embezzled the tax money, so what did he use to pay it back?"

I!
Shen Shixing could only continue to deny it, saying, "Your Majesty, I really don't know about this matter. I haven't been back to my hometown this year."

How dare you cheat on me?

Wanli was quite annoyed and said, "Do you want me to summon Shi Kunyu and Shen Bing to the capital to question them? I want to find out who Shen Bing is to you, how much land he owns, what bad things he has done, and why Shi Kunyu wants to arrest him."

what?
You know it all!
When Shen Shixing heard this, his face changed drastically.

He didn't know how to argue.

Seeing this, Wanli suddenly slowed down his tone and said, "Now, I'm giving you a chance, do you want it?"

Does this mean that if I agree to your conditions you will not pursue this matter?

No problem, as long as I can keep my position as Prime Minister.

Shen Shixing nodded hopefully and said, "Your Majesty, please give your instructions."

Wanli suddenly said coldly, "Your nodding means you admit that you ordered this, right?"

I!
When Shen Shixing heard this, his expression froze.

What does the little emperor want to do?
He thought about it carefully, then said carefully: "Well, I'm really not very clear about this matter."

You still want to quibble?
I'm too lazy to talk to you anymore.

Wanli snorted coldly, "I'll give you a chance. Resign on your own and let this matter go."

Is this an opportunity?

You asked me to resign myself!
When Shen Shixing heard this, his expression suddenly changed, becoming uncertain.

Obviously, he didn't want to.

This guy even wanted to resist a little.

Seeing this, Wanli coldly threatened: "You make your own choice. You can resign and I will give you a decent punishment. Of course, you can also dismiss me from your post and investigate, confiscate my property and exile me, behead me in public, or even execute my entire family. You can also choose, and I will grant you any of these."

How do you let me choose?
The question is, is it okay if I don’t choose?
This little emperor is very rebellious, but he never jokes with others.

At least, the little emperor never joked with him.

This guy is really ruthless. He can chop people off without any hesitation. I don’t know how many families have been executed.

It was only at this time that Shen Shixing realized that although he, the chief minister of the cabinet, seemed to have great power, he was actually nothing in the eyes of the little emperor.

When a scholar meets a soldier, he cannot explain his reason clearly.

The power of civil servants is nothing in front of hundreds of thousands of troops.

He thought blankly for a long time, then bowed and said, "I will write my resignation now. I am leaving."

After saying that, he walked out with a dejected look on his face.

Wanli looked at the guy's back, and couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth and smile evilly to himself.

He was giving Shen Shixing a chance to choose, and he also wanted to see the effect after he killed a few people.

Now it seems that the effect is quite good. The prime minister of the cabinet was so scared that he resigned voluntarily.

Civil officials have to ignore everything and kill everyone they catch to scare people away.

I will still kill anyone who disobeys me in the future!

As for why he didn't kill Shen Shixing, it was mainly because he was too lazy to make trouble.

After all, Shen Shixing was the Prime Minister of the Cabinet, so killing him would be a bit troublesome. Moreover, he had many followers and disciples, so killing him would also be a bit troublesome. Besides, he had never openly opposed him and had never disobeyed his orders. He just liked to pretend to obey, but secretly disobeyed, so this could not be considered a crime.

More importantly, this guy didn't collaborate with the enemy and betray his country, so it doesn't matter whether he is killed or not.

The key now is to get this guy out as soon as possible and let the obedient Yu Youcai take over.

So, he was too lazy to bother with it and just told the guy to get lost.

Shen Shixing was a sensible guy. He knew that the young emperor wanted him to get out as soon as possible, so he ran back and wrote his resignation letter and sent it over quickly.

Wanli looked at the resignation letter, nodded slightly, and then waved his hand and said: "Go back and take care of your family. Don't do evil everywhere. Those who do evil will eventually perish."

Shen Shixing quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order. I will take my leave."

After saying this, he retreated respectfully.

He was really afraid that the little emperor would suddenly fall ill and behead him.

Wanli then ordered someone to call Yu Youcai over.

Yu Youcai was still confused at the moment, because Shen Shixing was busy arranging funeral arrangements with Xu Xijue and Xu Guo, and had no time to say goodbye to him.

He didn't even know why Wanli was looking for him.

Unexpectedly, after the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli solemnly said, "Bingzhong, Shen Shixing has resigned. From now on, you will be the chief minister of the cabinet."

what?
Why did Shen Shixing suddenly resign?

Yu Youcai was stunned for a moment, then he said carefully: "Your Majesty, I am a humble official with limited knowledge and talent, and I am afraid I cannot handle this important task."

You are actually quite talented.

Wanli couldn't help but smile slightly and said, "Bingzhong, you are talented where you should be talented, and not talented where you shouldn't be talented. This is good."

Oh, I see.

His Majesty needs an obedient cabinet minister like him.

Yu Youcai quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Well, you are indeed talented.

Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "Shen Shixing resigned because of a family incident.

His family member Shen Bing was rampant in the village, committing all kinds of evil. Suzhou prefect Shi Kunyu was selfless and arrested his family member Shen Bing. He then ordered his accomplice, Susong Governor Li Lai, to arrest Shi Kunyu. You still need to send someone to deal with this matter."

That's what happened.

Yu Youcai asked carefully, "Your Majesty, how should we handle this matter?"

You are indeed talented. You know that I don't like people making decisions on their own, so you don't make decisions.

Wanli explained in detail, "You must convey my decree to dismiss Li Lai, the governor of Suzhou and Songjiang, and bring him back to the capital for trial. Let the Ministry of Justice handle the matter and see what other crimes this fellow has committed. We will then deal with him accordingly."

He was starting to sow discord. The Minister of Justice Xin Zixiu was from Zhang Juzheng's old party, and the Governor of Suzhou and Songjiang Li Lai was from Shen Shixing's party.

Even if Susong Governor Li Lai had no other problems, he should be dismissed and investigated for abusing his power to wrongly accuse a fourth-rank prefect.

Even if Zhang Juzheng's old party and Shen Shixing's party did not turn against each other over this incident, they would still have resentment against each other.

Upon hearing this, Yu Youcai bowed without hesitation and said, "Your humble servant obeys your command."

Wanli nodded slightly and instructed, "Choose a favorite disciple and promote him to the position of Right Censor-in-Chief of the Supervisory Council, and send him to Suzhou and Songjiang as the governor. As for the former Suzhou prefect Shi Kunyu, reinstate him to his original position."

what?
My disciple will now be promoted to the fourth rank of Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate!

Yu Youcai was stunned for a moment before he cautiously asked, "Your Majesty, can a newly minted Jinshi be promoted to the fourth rank before completing his three-year term?"

What is this.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "If I say yes, then yes. The Inspector General can jump through the ranks and be promoted to the position of Right Assistant Inspector General of the Supervisory Office. You can just choose a disciple who is an Inspector General.

Also, it's time for your other disciples to be promoted. You're already the Prime Minister, so isn't it normal for your disciples to be promoted?"

Okay, whatever you say is fine.

Yu Youcai thought for a moment, then said carefully, "Your Majesty, what do you think of Li Hualong? He is a soldier and has made considerable achievements during his time as an inspector in Shanxi."

At this moment, there is not one Li Hualong in the court, but two Li Hualongs.

One of them was a Jinshi in the second year of Wanli, and had been promoted to Langzhong of the Ministry of Works.

Another one is Yu Youcai’s disciple Li Hualong, who is now a touring censor.

Wanli didn't even know which Li Hualong led the famous Battle of Bozhou in history.

But it doesn’t matter, he can just use Yu Youcai’s disciple Li Hualong.

Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "Okay, let's go with Li Hualong."

Yu Youcai quickly bowed and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "Shen Shixing has resigned, and the cabinet needs to add a minister. The left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Shen Yikuan, recommended Zhao Zhigao, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites.

These two are quite capable, just watch them fight Xu Xijue, Xu Guo, and others, and don't bother with anything."

Will Shen Yikuan and Zhao Zhigao cause trouble?

There is a difference between being able to handle things and being able to get things done.

I can only do things but not deal with things.

These two people know how to handle things.

His Majesty's intention is to let them fight against those gangs that have united in the court!

Yu Youcai nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

(End of this chapter)