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

Chapter 613 Residual Value

Upon hearing this, Pei Yuan truly began to admire Mao Cheng.

Putting everything else aside, this guy's efficiency is truly impressive.

After being appointed as the deputy chief examiner, Mao Cheng quickly realized that the days he spent locked in the examination hall with the chief examiner Liang Chu would become a special arena for fierce competition.

If, at this juncture, his associates launch a fierce attack on Liang Chu, who has moral failings, and generate sufficiently strong public opinion, then he will have the opportunity to act as Grand Secretary and serve as the chief examiner for this examination.

Even if he fails to become a Grand Secretary this time and is not successfully promoted to the Cabinet, simply giving Mao Cheng a chance to preside over the examination because of Liang Chu's tarnished reputation would still be a win-win situation for him.

This is an opportunity to become the tutor of hundreds of successful candidates in the imperial examinations.

For Mao Cheng, who came from a Hanlin Academy and had no practical experience in official positions, this was a golden opportunity to form a faction.

At the same time, attacking Liang Chu, who has many flaws, will also gain widespread recognition.

Putting aside other matters, at least the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review, which launched a fierce attack on Liang Chu last time, should have been on Mao Cheng's side.

In order to put Liang Ci to death, Zhang Lun, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, personally took action!

Although Minister of Justice Zhang Zilin played it safe by only sending a junior official from the Ministry of Justice, this junior official was still quite representative!

How representative is this Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice?

You can tell just by hearing his name.

The official in charge of the Ministry of Justice who was involved in Liang Cishu's case was named Zhang Dalin.

During the trial, Zhang Dalin relentlessly pursued Liang Ci's case.

After Zhu Houzhao's first act of favoritism, Zhang Dalin was demoted two ranks because of his resolute attitude.

Although the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review is ranked among the two lower standing committee members, and the Minister of Justice is not in a very strong position among the seven upper standing committee members, the two of them firmly hold two votes.

Before taking charge of the Ministry of Justice, Zhang Zilin had ten years of experience in the Court of Judicial Review.

Zhang Zilin and Zhang Lun also have a good personal relationship, and their alliance is very solid.

It can be said that if the friendship between Zhang Zilin and Zhang Lun had been even slightly impure, they wouldn't have dared to stand shoulder to shoulder and conspire to kill the son of the current second-in-command.

In addition to these, Mao Cheng had other considerations.

If Liang Chu is ousted, a position in the cabinet will become vacant.

This is not only beneficial to Mao Cheng, but also quite attractive to some of the nine members of the Politburo Standing Committee.

Li Dongyang's recent retirement left the cabinet one member short, and various factions were vying for that spot. If Liang Chu also leaves, the cabinet will be left with only Yang Tinghe and Fei Hong.

By then, there will be no more reason to delay, and the court will have to appoint someone to the cabinet as soon as possible.

Wang Hua, the Minister of Rites, and Lu Wan, the Minister of War, were both recently appointed this year.

These two are not qualified enough, and their most likely approach is to remain inactive and avoid provoking either side.

The Office of Transmission experienced a major upheaval this year. First, Ding Feng, the Commissioner of Transmission, was demoted to Nanjing due to the "loss of the original document incident." Then, Li Hao, who was in charge of the affairs of the Office of Transmission, was also dismissed amidst widespread condemnation.

The person currently acting as the head of the Office of Transmission is Wang Conglan, who is working outside the office.

Cong Lan was a typical official of the Court of Judicial Review, rising from Left Councilor to Right Vice Minister of Judicial Review, then to Left Vice Minister of Judicial Review, and finally to Commissioner of Judicial Review.

Reinstating him to act as the Directorate of State Affairs was also intended to stabilize public sentiment after a series of upheavals.

Cong Lan, currently serving as the Vice Minister of Revenue in charge of finances and provisions, is primarily responsible for overseeing the affairs of the Office of Transmission, but his actual job is to concurrently hold the position of Right Vice Censor-in-Chief while suppressing rebellions in the Manchu Empire. It's truly unbelievable.

As for Li Sui, the Minister of Works, even if he wanted to advance his career, his disciples and followers would not allow it.

The Ministry of Works was a key department for the imperial court's expenditures. Apart from the salaries of officials and the army's food and pay, most of the remaining funds flowed into various construction projects.

Is the Minister of Works someone who can be replaced so easily?

The officials of the Ministry of Works were so eager that they wished they could put Minister Li Sui in an eight-hundred-pound cangue in the main hall of the Ministry of Works.

As for the Ministry of Personnel, Yang Yiqing, the Minister of Personnel, himself wanted to join the cabinet.

Sun Jiao of the Ministry of Revenue was a comrade of Yang Tinghe and a close ally of Jin Gui, a candidate for cabinet membership.

These two people would certainly be happy to see Liang Chu get out of here, and would have a positive attitude towards it.

Although Li Shishi gave up the opportunity to join the cabinet last time, it was clear to everyone that the Ning Prince was very eager to obtain a position in the cabinet. This was not just Li Shishi's own business.

Zhang Zilin, Zhang Lun, Yang Yiqing, Sun Jiao, and Li Shishi.

According to Mao Cheng's estimate, as a key figure in the movement to overthrow Liang, he should be able to get at least five votes when the order of succession is changed.

Unexpectedly, during the court recommendation in the morning, after Mao Cheng was nominated as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, he only received two votes from the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review.

Although Wang Hua, the Minister of Rites, was a nice man, he disliked the deputy chief examiner who had betrayed the chief examiner.

He didn't want Mao Cheng to serve as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, so he recommended Li Xunxue, the original Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, for the position.

With the position of Left Vice Minister vacant, it would be normal for the Right Vice Minister to be promoted instead.

Therefore, with Cong Lan absent, Li Xunxue received six votes and was directly approved.

Fortunately, Mao Cheng had prepared for this.

His original goal for a promotion was to become the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, as Wang Qiong was about to leave. However, with Mao Ji leaving, it would be much easier for him to obtain the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites. This led him to change his mind and set his sights on the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Unfortunately, Wang Hua strongly supported Li Xunxue and even got six votes, so Mao Cheng might as well take the opportunity to take the vacant position of Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites that Li Xunxue had left vacant.

At Mao Cheng's suggestion, Zhang Lun, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, immediately proposed that Mao Cheng fill the vacancy of Li Xunxue as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Unexpectedly, Wang Hua, this seemingly kind-hearted man, showed no mercy when he did act.

He immediately nominated Wu Yan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, to be promoted to Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites.

The confrontational tone was so obvious that it immediately silenced anyone else from making any rash statements.

Not to mention that everyone also wanted to win Wang Hua's vote in other matters.

Simply put, as the head of the Ministry of Rites, Wang Hua's control over his own territory should be respected by everyone.

After all, they are all big shots, and this is also a way of protecting themselves.

Despite this situation, Zhang Zilin and Zhang Lun remained united and gave Mao Cheng two votes, but unfortunately, they were ultimately powerless to change the outcome.

Thus, to Mao Cheng's astonishment, even the appointment of the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites fell into Wu Yan's hands.

Mao Cheng was greatly disappointed.

Then, just when everyone thought this close-quarters combat was about to end.

Since the return of the God of War, Lu Wan, who had been suppressed in various ways, suddenly took the initiative to propose that Mao Cheng, a Hanlin Academician, replace Wu Yan, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites in Nanjing, who had been vacant.

Lu Wan's suggestion was like throwing a large stone into a calm pond.

It is well known that Mao Cheng wanted to gain benefits by betraying Liang Chu. At this time, those who stood up against Mao Cheng for no reason must have been venting their anger on behalf of Liang Chu.

Everyone present was shrewd and immediately realized that something was amiss.

Could it be that Lu Wan, who is frustrated in his career, has teamed up with Liang Chu, who is equally frustrated in his career?

Or did Lu Wan seize the opportunity and try to use this moment to demonstrate the threat he could pose?
You must understand that a Grand Secretary without the support of high-ranking officials is just a clay sculpture.

Without the support of a Grand Secretary, a ministerial official would find it difficult to fully implement his own will in the department's decision-making. If these two disgruntled individuals were to join forces, the situation would be entirely different.

As a result, Lu Wan, who was originally sidelined, suddenly gained a subtle value in united front work.

Faced with this proposal, even Zhang Zilin of the Ministry of Justice and Zhang Lun, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, no longer insisted on it and decisively abandoned Mao Cheng, passing the proposal with eight votes.

Upon seeing this result, Mao Cheng felt a chill run down his spine.

Although he has offended Liang Chu and been blocked from the front of the list by Jin Gui, he is still a strong contender for the position of Grand Secretary of the Cabinet, as he is still a member of the Hanlin Academy.

If other departments have opportunities in the future, we can continue to try to secure them.

However, once he was sent to Nanjing, unless a powerful ally came to his rescue, his career as a court official would be essentially ruined.

However, given the current situation, Zhang Zilin and Zhang Lun, in order to prevent Lu Wan from completely siding with Liang Chu, actually sold off Mao Cheng, who had lost his value.

Can we still expect someone to bail him out in the future?

Leaving aside Mao Cheng's disappointment, Pei Yuan's expression also became quite somber after listening to Wei Ne's account.

The close relationship between Zhang Zilin and Zhang Lun was something he hadn't considered before.

It seems that if we want to get rid of Zhang Lun and free up the position of Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, we must also find a way to get rid of Zhang Zilin at the same time.

However, the mutual support between these two permanent members of the UN Security Council is not so easy to break.

Making room for Jiao Fang will probably not be an easy task.

However, since the position of Commissioner of the Court of Judicial Review had been taken by Zhu Houzhao, the only person Pei Yuan could consider taking advantage of was the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Pei Yuan scratched his head and stroked his chin, pondering.

How can I break the alliance between these two incredibly close individuals who are so united that they could conspire to destroy the son of the second prime minister?

Pei Yuan pondered for a moment, and a vague idea began to form in his mind.

However, he lacked capable people at his disposal, and ultimately found it somewhat beyond his power to take action against a high-ranking official.

Pei Yuan decided to put the matter aside for the time being and instead began to ponder the remaining value of Mao Cheng.

In the original history, there was no such imperial examination, and therefore no such risky betrayal by Mao Cheng.

Mao Cheng had been eagerly waiting for Jin Gui to successfully take the position before reluctantly switching to a different rank for promotion.

By then, the imperial court had gradually established a new order for selecting Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet. From then on, it was not so easy for the Vice Ministers of the Six Ministries to directly enter the Cabinet. Those who were promoted from administrative officials had to be promoted to the higher ranks of Minister.

Ultimately, Mao Cheng still couldn't make it big.

After finally being promoted to Minister of Rites, Emperor Zhengde died soon after. Mao Cheng was then almost passively drawn into the far-reaching Great Rites Controversy and forced to retire.

It's not impossible to invest in someone with the talent of a prime minister.

Pei Yuan thought to himself that he wanted to test his influence.

So he summoned Cen Meng and said, "Go and ask if Mao Cheng is currently at the Hanlin Academy or has already returned to his residence to prepare for his journey south."

After giving his instructions, Pei Yuan asked Wei Ne about other matters.

As it turned out, Wei Ne told him that Zhu Houzhao was indeed going to make a big deal out of the "Green Sign Case".

Zhu Houzhao ordered the Censorate to collect more voices from the literati while demanding that the details of the "Green Signature Case" be investigated as soon as possible.

Pei Yuan cursed inwardly, feeling like he was about to be hit by that bastard's flashbang again.

After recounting the information he had gathered, Wei Ne quickly left.

Not long after, Lu Yong rushed back and said to Pei Yuan, "Commander, Mao Cheng has already returned to the manor."

Pei Yuan perked up a bit. "Is the news reliable?"

Lu Yongdao said, "It's reliable. I asked the Embroidered Uniform Guards who work at the Hanlin Academy."

Pei Yuan was very satisfied.

This is particularly good when you ask Lu Yong to do things.

In the past, when Chen Xinjian was out gathering intelligence, he would occasionally have to pay out of his own pocket to treat people to tea.

However, if the nephew of the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial went to ask him all sorts of questions, that would be a completely different story.

Pei Yuan thought for a moment and said to one of his personal guards, "Go to the backyard and see if there are any bamboo trees. Cut a section for me."

Upon hearing this, the guard hurried downstairs.

Not long after, they cut down a section of green bamboo about a foot long.

Pei Yuan reached out and took the Embroidered Spring Knife from Xiao Tong's hand. Then, he slowly used the sharp blade to split the green bamboo open and made it into a green bamboo stick.

This bamboo stick is only about the size of a palm, and about two fingers wide.

Pei Yuan asked for pen and ink, and then wrote the four characters "Minister of Rites" on the green bamboo slip.

He didn't seal it with wax, but had someone wrap it with thin thread, and said, "Send someone to take this to Mao Cheng."

After saying that, he added, "Let's see how Mao Cheng reacts. It's okay if he gets scolded; just come back and tell the truth."

Lu Yong had already inquired about Mao Cheng's residence earlier. Mao Cheng's family lived in Mingzhaofang, which was not far from here, so Lu Yong offered, "This subordinate is willing to deliver it."

Pei Yuan smiled and said, "Alright. Remember not to let outsiders see it. If Mao Cheng refuses to accept it, bring the item back with you."

After Lu Yong left, Pei Yuan also felt somewhat stifled.

Just as they were hesitating about whether to visit the nearby temple, a low-ranking official with no official rank approached them with a fawning smile and said, "Zang Fengluan heard that Commander Pei came to listen to the music, so he sent someone to tell you to wait a moment, as he wants to have a drink with Commander Pei."

When Pei Yuan heard that Zang Xian wanted to see him, he immediately realized that it must be about the soybean oil.

It seems that Zang Xian has already made contact with potential buyers who can help him cross Baoying Lake and ship his goods southward.

"Zhongdouyou Group" is one of the keys to Pei Yuan's control over Luo Sect. Pei Yuan has always been concerned about it, and upon hearing this, he gladly said, "Since Brother Zang is coming, then I, Pei, will naturally be waiting for you."

The clerk smiled and said, "Zang Fengluan said that all expenses for the commander here will be waived, and he will be served delicacies and fine wines later."

This is a public institution under the Ministry of Rites, so Pei Yuan didn't try to dine and dash. Unexpectedly, Zang Xian knew how to do favors.

Having nothing else to do, Pei Yuan stayed to wait for Zang Xian.

After a while, Zang Xian still hadn't arrived, so Lu Yong came back.

Lu Yong looked embarrassed and said as soon as he returned, "Commander, that Mao Cheng is a bit ungrateful."

Pei Yuan, somewhat anticipating what was going on, asked, "What did Mao Cheng say?"

Lu Yongdao was telling the truth.

"When Mao Cheng saw the green bamboo slip handed to him by his subordinate, he immediately became somewhat agitated. After opening it and seeing what it was, he became even more furious and laughed, breaking the green bamboo slip in half and throwing it back. He also uttered some arrogant words."

Pei Yuan smacked his lips.

He was humiliated and awkwardly tried to salvage his reputation by telling his subordinates, "He'll regret this someday."

(End of this chapter)