My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 11 The Storm Rises Again
The Hanlin Academy was not far from Zuo Shunmen. After leaving the Hanlin Academy, the scholars including Shen Yikuan all looked dejected.

Su Ze approached the young official from the Ministry of Rites and asked:

"Brother Rumo, you are also in the History Museum?"

The young official from the Ministry of Rites nodded helplessly and said in the same Wu dialect as Su Ze:

"I am a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rites and a former editor of the Imperial Academy. I was personally appointed by Lord Chen."

Su Ze showed an expression of "We are all wanderers in this world", and the young official from the Ministry of Rites said:

"Brother Zilin, I heard that you were personally nominated by Lord Zhang. If there is any misunderstanding between you and Lord Zhang, I can help you speak up."

Su Ze quickly expressed his gratitude, but he thought that although Zhang Juzheng was your teacher, the conflict between him and Zhang Juzheng was probably not something he could mediate.

The young official from the Ministry of Rites in front of him was also a celebrity. He was Shen Shixing, the number one scorer in the imperial examination in the 41st year of the Jiajing reign.

The deputy examiner of the imperial examination in the 41st year of Jiajing was Zhang Juzheng, so Shen Shixing could be considered a disciple of Zhang Juzheng.

Historically, Shen Shixing always followed Zhang Juzheng's footsteps during the Wanli Dynasty, and finally succeeded Zhang Juzheng as the chief minister of the cabinet after his death, and served as the chief minister of the Wanli Emperor for another nine years.

Shen Shixing was also from Taicang County, Nanzhili, and was a fellow villager of Su Ze. When Su Ze first entered the Hanlin Academy, Shen Shixing was transferred to the Ministry of Rites.

Shen Shixing is 32 years old this year. He and Su Ze are from the same hometown and are about the same age. Naturally, Su Ze approached him and became friends with Shen Shixing.

Unexpectedly, Shen Shixing was also appointed by Chen Yiqin. This time, the History Museum can be said to be full of talents.

Shen Shixing was also a mature bureaucrat who had experienced several political struggles at the turn of the Jiajing and Longqing periods. After expressing his concerns in front of Su Ze, he returned to his original state and led everyone to visit the new office.

As a "major project" of the cultural system after Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, the office conditions of the History Museum were quite good.

The main hall was naturally reserved for Chen Yiqin, the president of the History Museum, but Chen Yiqin was a cabinet minister and had to be in the cabinet most of the time.

The vice president is Lu Diaoyang, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, but his main job is still the daily work of the Ministry of Rites.

The middle-level officials of the History Museum, that is, the people who actually do the work, are Hanlin officials such as Shen Shixing and Su Ze.

Shen Shixing and Luo Wanhua led a group respectively, and Su Ze joined Shen Shixing's group as deputy group leader.

Su Ze asked Shen Yikuan to work for him again, and they all worked in the same court.

Until now, Su Ze finally felt like he had been promoted!
Shen Shixing was the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Rites and had other duties, and the National History Museum was not his main office.

Su Ze had four scholars under his command, including Shen Yikuan, so he could be considered to have someone under his command.

In addition to the Shujishi, Su Ze also had fifty scribes under his command. These scribes were recruited from various central government offices and were all experienced officials who were proficient in copying official documents.

Two days later, Su Ze met the director and deputy director of the National History Museum again.

Chen Yiqin, the Grand Secretary of Wenyuan Pavilion, was a kind old man. He also said some polite words about working hard and then returned to the cabinet to work.

Vice President and Right Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Lu Diaoyang, only showed up once, talked a lot of nonsense, and then hurriedly left the National History Museum.

The work of compiling the records is actually not complicated.

For example, the Shizong Shilu of Emperor Jiajing was compiled by verifying and simplifying some important events in Jiajing's daily notes, and then writing them into the Shilu according to the year.

The only troublesome thing is the Veritable Records of Ruizong. Since Ruizong had never been an emperor, he could only make up a paragraph based on the few words that Emperor Jiajing said to his father.

However, anyone who has worked as a civil servant knows that this kind of project always starts with the easy and ends with the difficult. Emperor Jiajing reigned for forty-five years, and his Veritable Records are thicker than those of most emperors, so the current focus of the History Museum is still on the Veritable Records of Emperor Sejong.

Originally, Su Ze thought that he would just study the system and make his way in the History Museum, but he didn't expect that the political turmoil in the upper echelons of the court would inevitably involve him.
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"What? Cancel the lease?"

Facing the landlord, Su Ze asked doubtfully, "Sir Su, I really can't rent this house to you anymore. I'll refund the rent to you. Please find another place to live!"

Su Ze's face looked a little ugly. Although this house was small and shabby, it was very close to the palace.

If the previous tenant had not been a fellow villager, it would have been difficult to rent such a suitable house near the imperial city.

Su Ze asked:

"But someone is forcing you?"

The landlord sighed and said:
"Master Su, you are the God of Literature from heaven, and I am just an ordinary person, relying on the property in the capital to make a living. Please don't make things difficult for me!"

Su Ze asked again:

"Who is forcing you?"

The landlord then said:

"It's Lord Lu Shude, the Minister of Revenue."

When Su Ze heard the name, he immediately understood the relationship.

Lu Shude was a censor in the Household Department, that is, one of the censors.

Lu Shude was from Songjiang Prefecture in Southern Zhili. He was a fellow townsman of Xu Jie, the prime minister of the time, and was also a leading figure among the upright officials in the imperial court.

The landlord said hurriedly:
"Master Su, you also know that although my family has officials in the court, Master Lu's brother is the Minister of Personnel. I really can't afford to offend him!"

Su Ze did not make things difficult for the landlord and simply packed up his bedding. It was not easy to rent a house in the capital in a hurry, not to mention that Lu Shude could use such despicable means, so maybe he had some other tricks up his sleeve waiting for him.

Su Ze simply picked up his bedding roll and headed straight for the imperial city. Anyway, the History Museum had a place to stay overnight, so he might as well stay there for a night.
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"Lu Zhengyan! I heard that Su Ze has been spending the nights on duty at the History Museum these days. Now both the Hanlin Academy and the History Museum call him the 'Mourning Hanlin', hahahaha!"

Several young scholars surrounded a round-faced middle-aged official, raising their wine glasses and complimenting him.

Lu Zhengyan is naturally Lu Shude, the Minister of Revenue.

If it were during the Jiajing period, a censor like Lu Shude would never dare to make friends with officials privately or gather together for drinking.

But after Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he favored the literati and officials. Lu Shude relied on his brother who was the Minister of Rites and his fellow townsmen who were behind him, and gradually forgot these rules.

Of course, Xu Jie would not personally instruct Lu Shude, the Secretary of the Household Department, to target Su Ze. Lu Shude only knew that since Su Ze submitted the memorial, Gao Gong began to crack down on the power of Xu Ge Lao's Qingliu faction under the name of "starting the new policy of Longqing."

And his brother, who was the Minister of Personnel, would sigh every time he returned home when facing the Minister of Personnel Gao Gong.

As a "clean stream", Lu Shude naturally had to "stand up" and suppress "traitors" like Su Ze.

In a good mood, Lu Shude said:
"Everyone should work together to put pressure on the History Bureau regarding the Veritable Records of Emperor Ruizong."

"In the past, Taishigong wrote history with integrity. How could such a thing, which has been passed down through the ages, become a shortcut for a sycophant like Su Ze to curry favor with the emperor?"

"The compilation of the Shizong Shilu was also to clarify the benevolent policies of Emperor Shizong and to establish the laws of our ancestors for the present generation."

"We must not allow treacherous people like Su Ze to act recklessly on such an important matter!"

"I, Lu, swear hereby that I will expel Su Ze from the capital!"

Everyone clapped their hands and cheered, "Great!"

(End of this chapter)