Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 617 Acting
Ni Yue was not a fool, so he could see that Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin were acting.

But at least Zhu Houzhao could still act, which was enough to show that the prince still considered his feelings.

Ni Yue knew that it was meaningless to insist any longer, so he could only bow and say, "I have no suggestions. Your Highness the Crown Prince will make all the decisions."

"it is good!"

Zhu Houzhao said: "I have been too busy recently, I hope Mr. Ni can understand me."

"I understand."

When dealing with these matters, Zhu Houzhao was no longer as timid as he was at the beginning.

He also knew that governing a country now required trade-offs and concessions. He did not understand Emperor Hongzhi before and always felt that his father's role as emperor was too unjust.

He was already the emperor, so why did he have to compromise and give in to the civil officials in everything? He didn't understand it before, but now he understands.

This country is useless relying on him alone. Although he possesses supreme imperial power, there are too many lessons in history. So many emperors in the Southern and Northern Dynasties treated their people as pigs and dogs. What was the final outcome?
In order to govern the country well, all officials need to work together, and Zhu Houzhao needs many people to govern together. Although he can promote some people, he cannot promote incompetent people. But those capable people have been influenced by Confucian culture.

Therefore, necessary compromises and concessions are necessary. Zhu Houzhao now deeply understands the helplessness of Emperor Hongzhi.

He also began to learn to be tolerant, to make concessions, and to make concessions to the civil servants. Only in this way could those people help him govern the country.

After Ni Yue left, Zhu Houzhao summoned Liu Jin back.

"This old servant pays respect to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

Zhu Houzhao hummed and said, "Don't deal with the affairs of the outer court these days. Go and take a rest first."

Liu Jin hurriedly said, "I obey your order."

Zhu Houzhao said: "I will continue to work at the Silijian after a while. You did a good job today."

Liu Jin said: "It is my great honor to be able to help you solve your problems."

"It's done."

When Zhu Houzhao returned to Kunning Palace again, Chen Ce had already left.

"Father, is my little brother leaving?"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded: "Have you dealt with the affairs of the outer court?"

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Don't worry, father. I have taken care of it."

"Ni Yue is not happy. After all, the personnel appointment in the Ministry of Personnel bypassed him. No one can accept this. I will try to comfort him."

Seeing Zhu Houzhao's exhausted face, Emperor Hongzhi said distressedly: "My son, being an emperor is not easy. Don't complain about the trouble. I know it's tiring, and I also know your temper."

"But we were born in heaven, so our responsibilities are greater than those of ordinary people."

Zhu Houzhao smiled and said, "Father, I know everything. Don't worry. I am not tired."

"it is good!"

Emperor Hongzhi nodded with satisfaction.

……

Ministry of War.

Ni Yue went to the Ministry of War and met with the Minister of War Ma Wensheng alone.

The other officials were still unaware of the appointment of the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. When Ni Yue informed Ma Wensheng of this, Ma Wensheng broke out in a cold sweat.

"Does the Crown Prince want all the six ministries to become his domestic slaves?" The ideology of the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and ministers was not the relationship between master and slave. The bureaucrats believed that they were merely serving the emperor. They were not the emperor's slaves, but the emperor's helpers.

But now the prince obviously wants to treat the six ministries as his own slaves, and he arbitrarily arranges people to enter the six ministries without even going through legal procedures. How can this not surprise Ma Wensheng?
If the six ministries no longer have the qualifications to nominate their own officials in the future, then wouldn't the six ministers be in name only?

Ni Yue said: "Fu Tu, the left minister of the Ministry of War is going to retire, and there is also the right assistant minister. Two positions are vacant at once. You'd better arrange for nominations to the Ministry of Personnel in advance."

"Han Wen from the Ministry of Revenue has already taken office, and Zhang Cai from the Ministry of Personnel has also been placed in office. The next one will undoubtedly be the Ministry of War."

Among the six ministries, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Military Affairs are nominally the most powerful offices, and the prince must be concerned about the personnel appointments in these three offices.

The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue have already made arrangements, and it is impossible for the Ministry of War not to insert its own confidants.

The prince wanted to cultivate a confidant in the government, but this would take a lot of time, and now Emperor Hongzhi and Chen Ce were almost at their limit.

Therefore, placing his own people into the six ministries would undoubtedly be the fastest way for Zhu Houzhao to take control of power.

These matters were either planned by Emperor Hongzhi or Chen Ce.

They needed to arrange everything for Zhu Houzhao as soon as possible before they left this world.

Now the only thing left is the personnel appointments in the Ministry of War, and the next step will definitely be to fill the vacancies in the Ministry of War.

So after leaving the Qianqing Palace, Ni Yue immediately found Ma Wensheng and asked Ma Wensheng to fill all the vacancies in the Ministry of War as soon as possible.

Ma Wensheng took a deep breath and said, "I will send the nomination to the Ministry of Personnel tonight. I will have to trouble Lord Ni to approve it and send it to the Cabinet."

"it is good!"

That evening, Ma Wensheng drafted the personnel appointments for the Right Vice Minister and the Left Doctor of the Ministry of War, both of whom were Confucian generals on the frontier.

Ma Wensheng had no selfish motives. He knew that if he placed his own people there, once they were investigated, he would probably be impeached by the censors.

These censors do not form cliques, nor will they side with you, the people from the six ministries.

The party struggles in the current Ming Dynasty are different from those in the late Ming Dynasty. If Ma Wensheng were really impeached by the censor for forming a faction for personal gain, he would know the consequences.

Early the next morning, Ni Yue sent Ma Wensheng's nomination to the cabinet.

When Fei Hong saw the appointment list of the Ministry of War submitted by the Ministry of Personnel, he smiled bitterly, knowing that this was Ni Yue's counterattack. He had no choice but to send the list to the Imperial Household Department.

When Liu Jin saw the memorial sent by the cabinet, he hurried to find Zhu Houzhao. After reading it, Zhu Houzhao pondered for a moment and said, "Approve it."

"what?"

Liu Jin asked, "Sir, isn't it possible that the Ministry of War has sent someone in?"

Zhu Houzhao narrowed his eyes and said, "Put him in place. Why not? After a while, transfer Ma Wensheng to the Ministry of Rites and recommend a minister of the Ministry of War."

Liu Jin was stunned for a moment. It turned out that the prince was considering cutting off the source of the problem. By transferring Ma Wensheng to the Ministry of Rites, it was obvious that he wanted to push Ma Wensheng into the cabinet.

With such great benefits, how could Ma Wensheng not agree?

Once Ma Wensheng leaves the Ministry of War, the position of Minister of War will inevitably become vacant.

It is impossible for Ma Wensheng to give up the opportunity to join the cabinet for the position of Minister of War. The civil servants are not just huddling together for warmth, they all have their own considerations.

This move of the prince is really clever! Liu Jin secretly admires him and even thinks that the prince's methods are beginning to rival Chen Ce's!

It turned out that he was taught by Master Chen. The most outstanding person taught by Master Chen was not his three students, but the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty!

"Okay!" Liu Jin said with a smile, "I understand. I will go to the Imperial Household Department to review the memorial."

(End of this chapter)