My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 66 Disaster to Chiyu
Su Ze had never expected that he would be affected by the attacks of the censors just because he was working honestly in the newspaper office to edit the newspaper.

The censors from the Six Departments and the Censorate compiled statistics from the memorials sent by the Ministry of Public Administration, and then launched personal attacks on the officials who advocated relaxing border restrictions and conducting trade with Altan's tribe.

In particular, the leading Shanxi councilor Zheng Luo, his official career was dug up by the censors, and even the articles he wrote were found out, looking for his crimes one by one.

But even so, these censors still felt it was not enough. They counted the memorials from officials in Beijing and found out those officials who had not expressed their views on the issue of Altan Khan's invasion.

When they saw Su Ze's name, the censors of the Six Departments Censorate's eyes lit up!

Zhan Yangbi, the censor of the Censorate, started an impeachment and submitted a memorial to impeach 25 officials in the capital, including Su Ze of the Chancellery. When the emperor ordered all officials to submit memorials, they disobeyed the order and did not submit any memorials to express their opinions. He was a political speculator who was ready to change with the wind!
The censor meant, "Everyone else is submitting a petition, why aren't you submitting one?"

You must not be standing on the side of the ministers, but waiting for the emperor and the cabinet to express their views, and then follow suit!

When Su Ze heard from Shen Yiguan that he was impeached, he almost laughed out of anger. I was impeached by you censors for submitting a memorial? And he was impeached even for not submitting a memorial this time?
Are the censors of the Ming Dynasty mad dogs?
Not expressing your opinion means you are not standing on the side of the ministers?
Can you, the officials of Kedao, represent all the officials?
Shen Yiquan also advised:

"Brother Zilin, please submit a petition and express your position as soon as possible!"

Su Ze asked:

"What's the current trend in the court?"

Shen Yiguan said with a bitter face:
"This time, the censors are somewhat on the right side. Most of the high-ranking officials in the Nine Ministries and Offices agree with relocating the border and restricting the border. Those advocating for relaxing the border restrictions are too few, and they are mostly officials from Shanxi or those who have experience in border affairs."

Su Ze sneered and said, "Yes, the people and officials of Shanxi are suffering from the border relocation and border control, so of course they will oppose it."

Shen Yikuan also sighed. As a Zhejiang native, he certainly understood this deeply.

When the Japanese invasion was serious, some officials in the court proposed to relocate the border and close the sea to the southeast.

Fortunately, Emperor Jiajing was not confused and refuted the statements of these censors.

If the southeast really relocated its borders and closed its sea trade, even if the Japanese rebellion was quelled, the prosperity of the southeast would be destroyed.

But this time things are different.

The southeast was the richest region in the Ming Dynasty. The emperor certainly would not smash all the valuables in his house just because a thief broke into his house.

However, the implementation of border relocation and border control in Datong was still acceptable to the imperial court.

And there are precedents for this kind of thing.

In the ninth year of Xuande, the Ming court abolished the Nurgan Regional Command, but retained the Jianzhou Guard and other garrisons.

Even more famous are the Seven Guards of Guanxi.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty established seven vassal guards west of Jiayuguan (now northwest Gansu, northern Qinghai and Xinjiang). During the Chenghua period, Hami was occupied by the Turpan Khanate. After the Ming court experienced a long tug-of-war with the Turpan Khanate, it finally gave up the seven guards in Guanxi and retreated to Jiayuguan.

Of course, Datong is an important border town in the north and the gateway to the capital, so it will never be abandoned no matter what.

However, it is still possible to abandon the people of Datong and relocate them to the border.

As for how many people will be killed or injured during the migration with the Ming Dynasty's current mobilization and organizational capabilities, and whether the people can be properly resettled after the migration, only God knows.

Anyway, the most famous example of relocating people from border areas to the interior was the relocation of military and civilians from the Six Garrisons to Hebei during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

Su Ze did not plan to submit a memorial, as he originally felt it was unnecessary.

The border unrest in the second year of Longqing was not recorded in history books at all, but the Ming court did not adjust its border policy that year.

Su Ze judged that at this time Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng should have been preparing for Altan's tribute.

However, the opposition in the court was too great, so the cabinet took a cold approach to the matter.

If history had not changed, Altan Khan's tribute would have been finally realized in the fifth year of the Longqing reign.

This was something Su Ze had not expected. These censors were so crazy that not expressing their opinions became a mistake?

Shen Yiguan said anxiously:

"Brother Zilin, let's submit a memorial!" Su Ze still held the brush in his hand and wrote an article for the third issue of "Yuefu Xinbao". He said:

"Let's wait until next month."

Shen Yiquan thought that it would be next month in a few days, so he swallowed the words of persuasion.
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September 1st, in the Censorate.

When the censor Zhan Yangbi stepped into the public housing, other censors stood up and greeted him. Zhan Yangbi responded to their greetings one by one, feeling very proud.

This time, Zhan Yangbi has created such a big stir, which is a valuable qualification in his career as a censor. If the court finally adopts his policies, he can rely on this achievement to rise to a high position in the future.

That is why Zhan Yangbi spared no effort to suppress opposition voices and force the cabinet and neutral officials to express their views.

Anyone who has experienced a group fight knows that the louder party may not be right, but will definitely win.

The promotion paths for the Censorate and the Six Ministries are different.

The Censorate is a very flexible position. The Censorate is also different from the Six Ministries. The officials of the Six Ministries are of very low rank and there are no department leaders, so promotions in the Six Ministries can only be done through external appointments.

The promotion steps in the Censorate were very smooth, from the left and right censors-in-chief of the second rank to the thirteenth censors of the seventh rank.

In addition, the censor can be sent to a remote position.

The Censorate also had an almost all-encompassing local dispatch system, the provincial governor system, which oversaw all local government, military affairs, finances, and related special matters such as salt, tea, and horse administration.

For example, Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian, was actually also an official of the Censorate. He was currently the Right Censor-in-Chief of the fourth rank, and being the governor of Yingtian was just his job.

Therefore, the path to promotion in the Censorate is very broad, and once assigned to military and salt affairs, they are all super lucrative positions. This is also the reason why the censors are crazy about internal competition.

A young imperial censor came in and said to Zhan Yangbi:
"Censor Zhan, all the officials in the capital, except for Su Ze from the Imperial Household Department, have submitted memorials to express their opinions!"

"What about the Cabinet?"

The young censor said:
"Prime Minister Li requested sick leave yesterday, and Your Majesty granted it."

Zhan Yangbi chuckled and said:

"Our Lord Li is really only worth a damn."

The imperial censors also laughed. Licorice is an optional auxiliary ingredient in most prescriptions. Here, Zhan Yangbi mentioned Li Chunfang's nickname, which means that he is unable to take responsibility and cannot assume the responsibility of assisting the king.

"Neither Gao nor Zhang expressed their views. The fourth assistant, Zhao, submitted a memorial requesting the court to rectify border affairs."

Zhan Yangpi said disdainfully, "Lord Zhao is still the same, a loach."

Everyone laughed, thinking that Zhao Zhenji was speaking the correct nonsense in his memorial.

Nonsense, since Altan Khan has invaded, it is naturally necessary to reorganize military affairs on the border. It is as good as saying nothing.

Zhan Yangbi thought about it and said:
"I heard that Su Ze is a member of the Gao family. Let's continue to impeach Su Ze and use him to force Gao to express his position!"

Zhan Yangbi spoke nicely, but in fact he was a coward.

Because of the censors' attacks on the cabinet, Prime Minister Li Chunfang asked for sick leave and all cabinet affairs were delayed.

If we continue to impeach the cabinet ministers, it will only disgust the emperor.

Since Zhan Yangbi was able to make a name for himself in the Censorate, he naturally understood the principle of knowing when to quit. He attacked the cabinet only for the reputation of speaking out directly. Even if he impeached four cabinet ministers, it would not be his turn to join the cabinet.

It just so happens that Ke Dao hates Su Ze so much that he might as well use him as a target!

At this moment, an official from the Censorate rushed in and said:

"Su Ze has submitted a petition!"

(End of this chapter)