Without money, what is the point of being a traitor?

Chapter 511 It’s all here
Judging from a guy like Pei Yuan who is good at conspiracy, Mao Cheng, the biggest beneficiary of the whole thing, is undoubtedly the most likely mastermind behind the scenes.

Now Liang Chu and Mao Cheng have been locked up in the Imperial Examination Hall as the chief examiner and deputy chief examiner. If the government and the public seize on the issue of his character and frantically attack Liang Chu, making this imperial examination a laughing stock, then if the court wants to replace the general at the last minute, Mao Cheng will be the only option.

Under such circumstances, as long as there are comrades-in-arms outside to instigate him, there is a high possibility that Mao Cheng will enter the cabinet.

After all, the Hanlin Academy scholars rank very high in the PK for entering the cabinet.

Pei Yuan couldn't help but sigh again, "The ecology of your civil servants is too bad."

Thinking about what happened today, Pei Yuan was temporarily too tired to complain about the political environment of the Ming Dynasty.

Mao Ji, the seemingly good-looking Minister of Rites, hurriedly tripped up the top leader Wang Hua before he took office.

Mao Cheng, a Hanlin scholar, is even more ruthless.

Taking advantage of the critical moment when the Imperial Examination Hall was locked up, he let his cronies cause trouble outside and re-examine the character of the chief examiner Liang Chu.

You must know that moral attacks have always been the most effective weapon of the censors.

They can use the highest moral standards to measure a person, point fingers at them, and then use the lowest moral standards to insult and attack them.

It is very difficult for the attacked to prove themselves and refute their allegations.

They can't just say, I'm not a good person, don't do this, don't do this.

So, Mao Cheng seized the most appropriate time and the most appropriate place and stabbed this fatal knife.

Wei Ne was a member of the civil service camp after all, so he said with a little embarrassment, "It may not be Mao Cheng."

Pei Yuan was speechless, "Now that everyone has been locked up in the Imperial Examination Hall, if we replace Liang Chu as the chief examiner, then Mao Cheng will definitely benefit. Who else could it be but him?"

Wei Ne continued to defend the civil officials, reluctantly saying, "Perhaps, it was those people who had long been dissatisfied with Liang Chu."

Pei Yuan said, "If it were those people, they would definitely have tried to obstruct the announcement of Liang Chu as the candidate. At that time, things had not been finalized, and before he was locked up in the Imperial Academy, the court had many options to replace him."

"If the purpose is simply to undermine Liang Chu's prestige, the chances of success are the greatest if we take action now."

"But now he's locked up in the Imperial Examination Hall, and there's only one replacement option, Mao Cheng. Who else would be tempted except Mao Cheng, who would do his best to cause trouble?"

Weiner was suddenly speechless.

The matter of Liang Chu has been going back and forth for almost a year.

Many court officials were already very dissatisfied with Liang Chu's behavior of taking advantage of the situation. With Zhu Houzhao's strong protection, Liang Chu was barely able to avoid being implicated in the Liang Ci case.

Later, Liang Ci'e died, and Liang Chu, in his grief, picked up the moral weapon of "everyone is dead".

Now even the censors could no longer hold Liang Chu accountable.

After all, his son had just died, and if he used this matter to attack Liang Chu, it would make him appear to be a very bad person.

In addition, many people were worried that Liang Chu would be angry about the death of his son and make the political struggle too fierce. Zhu Houzhao was constantly making trouble, so they diverted the conflict and focus.

Now that the emperor suddenly appointed Liang Chu as the chief examiner of the special examination, many people suddenly realized that they could launch a new offensive against him.

However, this idea was not particularly strong in the environment where Zhu Houzhao was constantly doing this and that.

The only one who realized the opportunity and was strongly attracted to it was Mao Cheng, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy.

Because others dealt with Liang Chu just to play it safe and prevent the old man from taking revenge, but he could really see opportunities for improvement.

So does Mao Cheng, a mere Hanlin scholar, have any hope of entering the cabinet?
Really!
When Emperor Taizong first established the cabinet, it was originally staffed by Hanlin officials.

Yang Shiqi and Yang Rong served in the cabinet for twenty years, but at the end of the Yongle period they were only fifth-rank Hanlin academicians.

Later, after Taizong died, these cabinet ministers started to act up when they encountered an emperor who was easy to bully.

The first big leap was made during the reign of Emperor Renzong, when some were promoted to assistant ministers and some to minister of rites.

Then, when Emperor Yingzong ascended the throne at the age of eight, the corners of the cabinet ministers' mouths began to rise uncontrollably.

——Kid, fill up my tank!

From then on, the cabinet ministers who had been honest in the Yongle Dynasty began to be dismissed from their high-ranking officials of the first rank.

Then why not directly increase it to the first rank?

Because the first rank is reserved for posthumous titles given to them.

A living first-rank civil official dared to shout out "I am not a prime minister, but a sheriff."

But in short, the cabinet has gradually become a super powerful department.

But even at this point, the "Seven Ministers" still retained the ability to fight when facing the cabinet.

Because although the power of the cabinet has been strengthened, it still has to rely on the six ministries and the Censorate to realize its political intentions.

And at this stage, there is a very subtle tacit understanding.

That means the Shangshu cannot enter the cabinet.

In other words, if you want to enter the cabinet, your position must be lower than that of a Shangshu.

Then when he entered the cabinet, he was given the honorary title of assistant minister or minister, and then he was promoted rapidly.

But if he was already a Shangshu before entering the cabinet.

Then I'm sorry, you have completely lost the opportunity to join the cabinet.

Therefore, the "Seven Ministers" at that time were still very tough when facing the cabinet ministers. Anyway, I can't make any progress, so why should I curry favor with you?
In order to maintain his own sphere of power and prevent the cabinet from taking advantage of him, the Ministry of Personnel, as the head of the "Seven Major Ministers", was often at the forefront of the challenge to the cabinet.

When did the cabinet circle open the promotion path to the ministers?

Not long after, it was the Zhengde period.

And so far, only a few people have done so.

For example, the Minister of Personnel Jiao Fang, the Minister of Personnel Liang Chu, Yang Tinghe who entered the cabinet as the Minister of Revenue of Nanjing, and Fei Hong who just joined the cabinet at the end of last year.

There were also Liu Yu, Cao Yuan and Liu Zhong who were in power for a short time.

Such changes can be attributed to one reason, that is Liu Jin's new policy!
Jiao Fang was the first surprise. He was a powerful ally introduced by Liu Jin in order to strengthen his control over the court.

Liu Jin, the initiator, raised the strength of the version, and the civil service camp immediately rebounded, allowing Wang Ao and Yang Tinghe to take the lead.

Liu Jin also quickly brought two of his own people, Cao Yuan and Liu Yu, into the cabinet.

Then the rise of Liang Chu and Liu Zhong completely opened the way for the Seven Ministers to enter the cabinet.

After Liu Jin was defeated, the power of the cabinet became unprecedentedly strong.

But this change from the old to the new order has only been implemented for a few years. The old thinking and inertia still have a large market.

No one has a clear answer as to whether this postwar Grand Cabinet was created in response to special circumstances or became an institutionalized standard.

Mao Cheng was promoted from lecturer in the Hanlin Academy to bachelor of the Hanlin Academy in May of the sixth year of Zhengde.

This Hanlin Academy Bachelor had the same status as the six ministers. In other words, as long as Mao Cheng actually managed the affairs of the ministry, he would at least start as a minister.

According to the conditions in previous years, Mao Cheng had theoretically reached the threshold to enter the cabinet.

But theory is theory and reality is reality, and there is still a huge mountain blocking Mao Cheng's way.

For a long time, Mao Cheng, who wanted to make progress, has always had his own role models.

That was when he was serving as the Right Yude in the Zhanshi Palace, and his two colleagues who were the Left Yude.

One is Fei Hong and the other is Jin Gui.

Fei Hong has become a Grand Secretary and entered the most powerful circle in the Ming Dynasty.

Jin Gui also methodically became a half-step to the Cabinet realm.

Therefore, to simplify it a little bit, Mao Cheng has only one temporary and long-term target, and that is Jin Gui.

Jin Gui is a candidate with great prospects of entering the cabinet, while Mao Cheng, who has less qualifications in all aspects, is a strong substitute for Jin Gui.

But if we just follow the routine, on this track, the seemingly small step between Jin Gui, the third place in the imperial examination in the third year of Hongzhi, and Mao Cheng, the first place in the imperial examination in the sixth year of Hongzhi, will be extremely difficult to surpass.

In addition to his seniority, Jin Gui's luck is also incredible.

Jin Gui is from Zhenjiang. When he was young, he took a fellow villager named Yang Yiqing as his teacher.

Later, Jin Gui went to take the imperial examination. The examiner who was chosen to work with Jin Gui was named Yang Tinghe. So Jin Gui became Yang Tinghe's disciple.

Later, when Jin Gui himself served as the chief examiner, Yang Tinghe's son Yang Shen became the top scorer in that exam, which made Yang Tinghe and his relationship even closer.

It can be said that Jin Gui has a good relationship with the two big bosses of the current dynasty.

As for Mao Cheng, oh, no, Zhong Mao from the Hanlin Academy...

Yang Yiqing, Yang Tinghe: Who is he?

Mao Cheng's teacher Li Dongyang left in a very unhappy manner.

Jin Gui's own path to advancement is also very solid.

He was first appointed as the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple and the Attendant Reader of Hanlin Academy, then he was in charge of the Zhanshi Palace, and held the title of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and obtained the key to enter the cabinet.

——The Hanlin Academy Bachelor and the Cabinet are in charge of drafting imperial edicts.

In other words, Jin Gui was able to enter the cabinet as a temporary worker and help the cabinet draft imperial edicts.

This is a very important transition.

The next step is to promote Jin Gui to a higher position and rank, and then he can smoothly enter the cabinet.

After presiding over last year's imperial examination, Yang Tinghe was very satisfied and immediately allowed Jin Gui to get the very important title of "Minister of Rites".

Unfortunately, after all the procedures were completed and at the last minute, Jin Gui was accused of fraud, which led to the frantic impeachment of Lin Jinlong, the Thirteenth Censor of Nanjing, and others.

This temporarily cast a shadow on Jin Gui's path to entering the cabinet.

Once Jin Gui gets rid of the trouble of impeachment, he will smoothly enter the cabinet.

With the current lineup of cabinet ministers, Mao Cheng may never have the chance to make further progress until his death.

Now that there have been some setbacks in the matter of Jin Gui joining the cabinet, Mao Cheng has another opportunity to take a risk. So what is there for Mao Cheng to hesitate about?
After all, now that he's here and has caught up with this godsend opportunity, he might as well give it a try.

Pei Yuan thought about Mao Cheng and said to Wei Ne, "Mao Cheng is really a smart man."

Wei Ne did not answer directly, but said, "Although those candidates made a lot of trouble, the emperor did not focus on it at all. Now the emperor is practicing martial arts in the capital every day, and leading those border troops to travel everywhere. I am afraid..."

Wei Ne did not continue to talk about Zhu Houzhao, but instead said, "After Liang Chu presides over the imperial examination, he will definitely take action against Mao Cheng. Otherwise, Liang Chu's prestige as a university scholar will be destroyed."

"Since the emperor has forced Liang Chu to stay, he probably doesn't want to see him become completely useless."

"I'm afraid Mao Cheng has been a villain in vain."

Pei Yuan commented, "Not necessarily. Mao Cheng's move this time at least let those who don't like Liang Chu see it."

"Liang Chu caused quite a bit of public outrage before. Mao Cheng's actions might be able to please those people."

"He doesn't lose."

Before Pei Yuan went to Beijing, with Jiao Yan'er's reminder, he had imagined his future path.

He just wanted to pick out a target that aroused public outrage and use it as a target. After that, he unyieldingly used Liang Chu as his target and attacked him fiercely.

This gave Pei Yuan, a treacherous Jinyiwei, a rare chance to gain a positive reputation.

If Pei Yuan had not beaten Liang Ci'e twice and greatly enhanced Liang Chu's reputation, he would never have been able to make friends with officials like Zhang Lian and Wang Qiong, let alone gain the recognition of scholars like Huo Tao and Tian Fu.

Now Mao Cheng also jumped out to pick up the sugarcane that Pei Yuan had chewed.

Pei Yuan reminded Wei Ne, "Please keep an eye on Mao Cheng for me in the future."

Wei Ne responded and kept the name Mao Cheng in mind.

Pei Yuan asked about the matter that concerned him the most. "By the way, when I was in Shandong, I heard that some rebels killed the former eunuch Zhang Yong, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department. Is there any discussion in the court?"

After hearing this, Wei Ne looked at Pei Yuan strangely.

Pei Yuan quickly stopped Wei Ne from thinking, "Let me make it clear that this matter has nothing to do with me."

Wei Ne looked doubtfully at Chen Xinjian and Cen Meng who had followed Pei Yuan back, and then said, "This incident caused quite a stir."

"The emperor flew into a rage after hearing this, and threatened to personally lead troops to Shandong to investigate the case. Later, the cabinet tried to dissuade him in every way, and only then did they stop him."

"The emperor is pushing very hard now. The pressure from the Censorate, the Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Justice is very great."

"As for the others, everyone just talked about it, but there wasn't much reaction."

Pei Yuan asked curiously, "What about Yang Yiqing? Didn't he make any statement?"

Yang Yiqing and Zhang Yong are almost like brothers who burn yellow paper for each other.

Wei Ne said, "Yang Yiqing expressed his willingness to personally write the epitaph for Eunuch Zhang. As for the rest, there is nothing else."

Pei Yuan felt that this was a political norm, but he couldn't help but sigh, "I didn't expect Yang Yiqing to be so heartless."

Wei Ne did explain for Yang Yiqing, "Now that Yang Yiqing has lost Zhang Yong's support, he has become powerless. He has encountered a lot of resistance in presiding over the Beijing inspection. With his strong personality, he can only compromise with many parties."

"In order to seek political support, Yang Yiqing has just started to make friends with the new eunuch Lu Ting, who is in charge of the Imperial Household Department. Perhaps he is also afraid that Eunuch Lu will misunderstand him."

Pei Yuan nodded, thinking it would be better to keep a low profile. This way, Zhang Rui would have less pressure if he wanted to drag this matter out.

As for Zhu Houzhao, it won't be long before his attention is diverted.

Compared with Yang Yiqing, he is the truly heartless one.

(End of this chapter)