The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 48: Random Promotion of Officials
Wanli's unique skill is to beat the master to death with random punches, but Zhang Siwei actually wants to fight him.

This is exactly what he wants!

Zhang Siwei pretended to implement the "Kaocheng Law" in order to eliminate dissidents and control the court.

Wanli took advantage of the situation and not only vigorously promoted the "Kaocheng Law" but also the "Land Surveying Regulations".

Zhang Siwei only wanted to replace the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo, and the Minister of Works Zeng Shengwu.

Wanli was even crazier. He wanted to replace Chen Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, and Yang Wei, the Minister of Works!
Five of the six ministries and seven officials were replaced at once. This was an unprecedented purge.

In fact, this kind of cleaning seems to be beneficial to Zhang Siwei on the surface.

Because the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo, and the Minister of Works Zeng Xingwu were all Zhang Juzheng's old party members and his political enemies.

Chen Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, is a stubborn and stubborn person. He can only be used and no one will listen to him at all.

The Minister of Works, Yang Wei, was Shen Shixing's man, and he did not have a very good relationship with him.

In other words, he wouldn't suffer any loss if he replaced all five of them. On the contrary, if he could get one, it would be a profit.

Therefore, under his suggestion, the Minister of Personnel Wu Dui did not confront Wanli at the court meeting, and this guy also went with the flow.

This means that one agrees with Wanli's statement that anyone over the age of sixty is too old to hold an official position!
There are so many officials in the court who are over 60 years old. Will this way of evaluating them work?
Wanli was just doing things in a mess.

He didn't follow the normal routine, so Zhang Siwei couldn't figure out what he was trying to do.

After the court meeting, he pretended to invite the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo, the Minister of Works Zeng Shengwu and the Minister of War Liang Menglong to the Imperial Study in the Qianqing Palace.

These four seem to be his confidants, but that is not the case.

Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo and Minister of Works Zeng Shengwu were all forced by Zhang Siwei to stand on his side.

These three important officials in the court listened to him on the surface, but in fact they never took the initiative to discuss with him how to deal with Zhang Siwei.

In other words, these three guys just wanted to use him and didn't want to take the risk of fighting Zhang Siwei.

They just wanted to sit on the fence and wait and see, but the Minister of War Liang Menglong surrendered and completely broke with Empress Dowager Li, Zhang Siwei and Shen Shixing.

There are actually many people in officialdom who sit on the fence and watch. The only difference is whose fence they sit on.

He doesn't need people who sit on the fence and watch, what he needs are real capable people!

So, this time he did not explicitly go against Zhang Siwei.

He simply took advantage of the situation and hinted that those over 60 were too old to hold official positions and should resign voluntarily.

However, he still has to put in some superficial effort.

After all, these people were riding on his wall, not on Zhang Siwei's wall.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he sighed insincerely, "Lord Zhang, Lord Xu, Zhang Siwei is trying to use the implementation of the 'Performance Examination System' as a pretext to exclude dissidents. What do you suggest we do?"

What else could they do?

Zhang Siwei didn't just pretend to promote the "Performance Evaluation System", he also tried to punish the entire clan!

Many of their relatives and friends were arrested and tortured by the Ministry of Justice.

Originally, they had hoped that Wanli would come back and throw a tantrum, cursing Zhang Siwei, Yang Wei, and even Wu Dui and Chen Yu for abusing their power for personal gain and eliminating dissidents.

Who would have thought that Wanli didn't lose his temper at all, and inexplicably agreed to implement the "Kaocheng Law".

Who can bear to continue taking exams like this?
No one can guarantee that there are no corrupt officials among their relatives and friends.

There are very few people who are not greedy and corrupt these days, and there are too many relatives and friends who use their names to gain benefits.

They don't want to be implicated by their relatives and friends, and eventually be dismissed from office, stripped of their official titles, or even have their property confiscated and exiled.

Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan thought for a moment and then cautiously warned, "Your Majesty, Zhang Siwei is instructing Yang Wei to arrest people indiscriminately. The Ministry of Justice's jail is almost full."

Your relatives and friends are not clean, and they are also punishing corrupt officials. Why should I care?
No matter what, punishing corrupt officials is beneficial to me. Normally they would not take action, so this time I can use them to make an example of them.

Moreover, if they punish your relatives and friends, you will definitely let your disciples continue to fight against them. Even if you step down, you will not let them go.

It is also beneficial for me if you create a feud with them, so I will pretend to be ignorant and let them punish me!
Wanli pretended to be partial and said, "Tell me who is wrongly accused, and I will immediately order the Jinyiwei to rescue the person."

Uh, who can guarantee that their relatives and friends are not being wronged?

Zhang Xueyan was stunned when he heard this.

It seems that the little emperor can no longer be relied upon.

Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo couldn't help but sigh slightly and said, "I am indeed old, and it is time for me to retire and return home. I am just afraid that they will not let me go."

Wanli pretended to defend him and said, "Don't worry, my dear Xu, I will not approve any memorial that is unfavorable to you."

That's good.

Minister of Works Zeng Shengwu also followed suit and said, "I am old and a little unable to do my job. It is time for me to retire and return home."

Is this all you have?
No wonder you were easily purged by Zhang Siwei in history.

Okay, I don't need people like you who are incompetent and just sit on the fence.

Wanli pretended to persuade him, "How about we think of another way?"

What else can we do if you don’t get sick?
If we try to find another solution, we will be implicated!

Zhang Xueyan sighed helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, it is time for me to retire and return home."

Wanli deliberately did not take any action, so the Minister of Revenue Zhang Xueyan, the Minister of Rites Xu Xuemo and the Minister of Works Zeng Shengwu, who were sitting on the fence and watching, had no choice but to submit their resignations.

Chen Yu, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, was not vague and directly submitted a letter of resignation.

Minister of Works Yang Wei hesitated for a while, but he had no choice but to submit his resignation.

Of course, this is not the point. The point is who will take their place.

Five of the six ministries and seven officials have resigned, so it seems that the court meeting cannot be held. The officials who will take over the positions can only be selected by the Ministry of Personnel.

Soon, the Ministry of Personnel selected the successor officials. Xu Guo, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was promoted to the left censor-in-chief of the Inspectorate, Xu Xijue, the right vice minister of the Ministry of Rites, was promoted to the minister of Rites, He Qiming, the left vice minister of the Ministry of Works, was promoted to the minister of Works, Hu Gai, the left assistant censor-in-chief of the Inspectorate, was promoted to the minister of Punishments, and Yang Junmin, the left vice minister of the Ministry of War and governor of Shandong, was promoted to the minister of Revenue.

The reason why Wanli went along with it and agreed to implement the "Kaocheng Law" according to Zhang Siwei's method and allow him to purge Zhang Juzheng's old party was actually because he wanted Zhang Siwei to expose his confidants in the court.

Zhang Siwei is such a sinister guy. He originally pretended to be Zhang Juzheng's right-hand man and infiltrated Zhang Juzheng's camp. Therefore, it is difficult to tell who his confidants are in the court.

Luo Sigong searched for a long time, but still couldn't be sure.

This time, this guy exposed himself, and not just these few. As the "Performance Evaluation Law" progresses, most of this guy's confidants will expose themselves.

Of course, it was impossible for him to promote officials according to the list provided by the Ministry of Personnel. He had just used his random punches, and there would be even more chaos to come.

He directly gave the list to Luo Sigong and asked Luo Sigong to check these guys!

Now that we had a target, it was naturally easier to investigate. Within a few days, Luo Sigong's secret report arrived.

Then he started messing around with Zhang Siwei again.

He directly issued an edict to promote Gao Wenjian, the Left Vice-Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate and Governor of the Three Borders of Shaanxi, to the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, Chen Rui, the Minister of War and Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, to the Minister of Rites, Chen Sheng, the Right Vice-Minister of War and Governor of Huguang, to the Minister of Revenue, Jia Yingyuan, the Right Vice-Minister of War and Governor of Datong, to the Minister of Works, and Xin Zixiu, the Right Vice-Minister of War and Governor of Baoding, to the Minister of Justice.

He is promoting officials indiscriminately.

When Zhang Siwei received the imperial edict, he couldn't help but laugh and cry.

These are the officials promoted by Zhang Juzheng. He keeps replacing them and then returns them to the officials promoted by Zhang Juzheng. Isn't he working in vain?

(End of this chapter)