Guangzong Yaoming

Chapter 260 The Temper of a Human Being

It would be abnormal if there was no internal strife during such a major change.

But Shen Li was furious.

Not only did they not resign to avoid suspicion, but nine of the twelve voters from the Inspection Bureau in Beijing immediately wrote petitions to defend themselves.

Although Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng were allowed to retire, the new rule now requires them to wait until new people are selected before handing over.

The two of them walked together to the main room of the Huangji Hall, looked at the two piles of memorials on the desk in front of the emperor, and cast a strange glance at the stubborn Shen Li and the playful Ye Xianggao.

Tian Le also came.

Zhu Changluo sighed and put down the court recommendation results in his hand.

"It's really difficult to deal with it right now." He first asked Liu Ruoyu to give seats to Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng. "The court recommended that there be a commotion on the spot?"

He was asking about Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng, but Shen Li snorted coldly: "There is a precedent for court nominations. I don't know what the Imperial Study and the Administrative Council are thinking. Chen Junyong is the leader, and Wang Qianfu and Zhu Zhaolong are his companions. This is the result of public nomination! It is said that I am a party to the dissidents and I am using the power of the censorate to plot against the emperor. I cannot bear this responsibility!"

Wang Xijue and Zhu Geng also participated in the imperial recommendation, and this was their last "ripple".

Now only the five ministers were present. Wang Xijue sighed and said, "I recommended Wang Qianfu. The Right Vice Minister was changed to the Left Vice Minister. Without Wang Qianfu's diligence and integrity in the Ministry of Revenue for six years, I would not dare to claim any merit."

He praised Wang Yingjiao for his achievements, but Wang Yingjiao was just there to accompany him.

Zhu Geng said nothing. The Imperial Study had only four votes in total, so its presence was actually very weak.

Ye Xianggao bowed and said, "It is my fault. I was ordered to preside over the court and failed to dissuade him properly."

Zhu Changluo glanced at his lowered head indifferently.

He was criticized once when he was temporarily in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and presided over the court recommendation of the Minister of Personnel. Zhu Changluo showed the court his trust in Ye Xianggao.

But this encouragement seemed to make him a little proud.

"The Minister of Rites recommended the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan to be the Grand Official of Heaven, but someone said on the spot that he was appointing people based on personal preference, so it seems that it is really inconvenient to dissuade him."

Ye Xianggao bent over with a slight palpitation in his heart, and there was a hint of sarcasm in the emperor's words.

He knew that his little thoughts had been seen through.

Zhu Changluo pointed to the two piles of memorials in front of him and said, "I have read all the impeachment and self-defense memorials. There is no one else here, so why not speak frankly? The four of you may as well write down on the spot the names of the candidates you think should take over and the names of the second and third rank officials who should be elected after the succession."

After saying that, he waved his hand slightly, and Liu Ruoyu asked someone to bring four plates to them.

There were pens, ink, paper and inkstone on the plate. Ye Xianggao couldn't help but look at the emperor in surprise.

Zhu Changluo, however, drank his tea leisurely.

"I dare not..." Ye Xianggao stood up this time. He wanted to bow, but after thinking for a while, he knelt down again. "I am honored to be the Minister of Rites. Although the Jinxian Yuan has the responsibility to select talents, how can I, the ministers, recommend the two prime ministers and the ministers?"

Zhu Changluo did not raise his head, and used the lid of the tea bowl to stir the tea. "There is always one vote during the imperial nomination. What's the big deal? Write it down."

Tian Le looked at them calmly.

I saw that Wang Xijue was quite open-minded and had already started writing.

Zhu Geng hesitated for a long time, while Shen Li first glanced at Ye Xianggao and then picked up the pen.

Ye Xianggao was the last one to start writing, apparently because he was about to get up and sit back down.

But after he sat down, his eyes were still slightly surprised.

Not long after, all four pieces of paper were presented to Zhu Changluo.

He knew all the handwriting and knew who the people were thinking of.

So after reading it, he asked Ye Xianggao, "How come after only one night, the Minister of State Affairs recommended Chen Junyong again?"

Ye Xianggao lowered his head a little embarrassed, and said hesitantly: "Chen Junyong is an honest and upright official. He is not afraid of power and attaches great importance to the law. He has been promoted to the governor of Yunnan since the fifth year of Longqing. He also made great contributions in the war with Burma last year. It is most appropriate for him to be promoted to the Minister of Personnel."

"He was saved by Lord Taiyue, but he was also able to go against Lord Taiyue's will. He was able to make decisions on the spot when inspecting Shaanxi, and he petitioned the emperor to allow him to raise funds for disaster relief in Shaanxi, without fear of slander." Zhu Changluo nodded, "He never does excessive things in his life, but only does what is appropriate. Although he says so about himself, he is a principled person. Secretary Zhu also recommended him, so how come so many impeachment inspection offices also recommended him?"

Shen Li stood up and bowed, "I have called a meeting of the court, and also sent letters to the censors of various provinces and the six departments to express my opinion. Your Majesty has established the Censorate and entrusted me with the important task of admonishment. I dare not sit in the post and do nothing. Although the censorate has great power and responsibility, if the wrong person is chosen, it will only be an impeachment. If the Grand Official is selected, I don't know how much easier it will be for the Censorate. Those who say that I am forming a party, I dare not agree. Those who say that I am suppressing dissidents, I do not admit it. Those who say that I will work with the Ministry of Discipline to recommend the governor as the Grand Official and promise to open up a smooth path for the censors, are even more nonsense! I will not hesitate to sacrifice my life for the country, Your Majesty will understand!"

Zhu Changluo looked at him for a long time without saying anything.

After a while, he sighed: "The strict implementation of preferential treatment, the administration of education, water conservancy, roads and bridges, and the annual examinations in Beijing have made people uneasy in recent years. People in and outside the capital are indeed afraid of the Inspection Office. I naturally know that Shen Yutai is plotting against the country. But too much is as bad as too little. Why did Yutai quarrel with them in the court?" "...I have lost my manners. Please punish me, Your Majesty."

Zhu Changluo shook his head first, then looked at them.

"It is good to exchange opinions with each other so as not to be blinded by one thing. When there are high-ranking officials above the second rank recommended by the court, and the Inspection Office has many people, if you can recommend talents with the public spirit, that is also good. However, if you rely on the public spirit to exchange something, that is not good."

Shen Li and Ye Xianggao's expressions froze slightly and they dared not speak.

Tian Le looked at the emperor and felt quite relieved.

Although he did not participate in the court recommendation, he at least knew the subsequent "vote type" distribution.

This time, it was obvious that Ye Xianggao and Shen Li had some kind of deal, and perhaps Zhu Geng was involved.

Chen Jian Chen Junyong was indeed a suitable candidate. His father was a civil servant, and he had known local affairs since he was a child. What was rare was that he did not have the bad habits of the civil servants, but was very principled.

Not long after he was appointed as the Tongpan of Songjiang Prefecture, he was directly promoted by Zhang Juzheng to be a Supervisory Censor. This was of course a favor from Zhang Juzheng. Later, Zhang Juzheng wanted him to collect dirt on Zheng Jizhi to suppress him, but after Chen Jian came back, he strongly recommended Zheng Jizhi. Seeing Chen Jian's reasonable arguments, Zhang Juzheng could only say that he was observing Zheng Jizhi and wanted to use him.

Otherwise, Zheng Jizhi would not have been able to smoothly rise to the position of Chief Justice of the Dali Temple when Zhu Changluo ascended the throne. Now he has been transferred to the position of Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice and has become a popular candidate for the Minister of Justice after Zhao Canlu.

The emperor talked about Chen Jian's time as the Shaanxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, which also showed Chen Jian's responsibility and reputation. When Shaanxi suffered a disaster, others would have petitioned the court to allocate silver for disaster relief, but Chen Jian petitioned to allow him to raise funds for disaster relief in the local area.

Fundraising requires ability, fearlessness of being hated, and prestige.

Without prestige and ability, how can you raise money? If you let people take out the money but don't use it for practical purposes, and you are not upright, aren't you afraid of being impeached for collecting money and plundering the local area?

Now Chen Jian had actually become the official candidate for the position of Minister of Personnel with 35 votes. In addition to the 19 votes from the Censorate, 14 of the 26 votes from the other two chambers were given to him.

The two co-candidates each received single-digit votes, and the other nominated candidates each received only one or two votes. It is impossible to say that they had not been secretly colluded beforehand.

Chen Jian is the Minister of Personnel, and Zheng Jizhi is also very likely to take over as the Minister of Justice. The two of them have a connection, and this time it is very likely that he got the position with the strong support of the Censorate. In the future, everything from the selection and inspection of officials to the investigation of the three judicial departments in case of impeachment for committing a crime can be affected by the Censorate system. This is the root cause of those officials who couldn't help but explode on the spot after seeing the nomination results.

Zhu Changluo looked at Ye Xianggao and said, "Grand Minister of Rites, I have ordered all the Jurchen tribes to bring all the imperial edicts to the court. Do you think Li Daofu is qualified to be the Grand Master of the Imperial Clan?"

"…Li Daofu has been the governor of the grain transport for nearly nine years. He has completed his examination and it is time for him to be transferred to another position. I think that Li Daofu's talent, if used in the Ministry of Rites, may be able to show his talents in the management of Liaodong."

"Oh? Do you know how I will govern Liaodong?"

"Your Majesty..." Ye Xianggao got up from his seat and knelt down again. "Your Majesty wants all the Jurchen tribes to bring all the imperial edicts to the court, so it is natural that he wants to manage Liaodong. I dare not pry into the military affairs of the Privy Council. Since I am unworthy of being the Minister of Rites, I must always share your Majesty's worries."

How to govern Liaodong was an internal meeting of the Privy Council.

But once the decree was issued, smart people naturally knew that the Ministry of Rites was the key, because in the past the Ministry of Rites was in charge of matters such as tribute from foreign vassal states through the Ministry of Rites.

Therefore, Ye Xianggao and Zhu Guozuo both focused on the Ministry of Rites.

Zhu Guozuo was not yet qualified to participate in this meeting, but Ye Xianggao wrote down the candidate in his mind: he believed that Zhu Guozuo could take over Zhu Geng's position, so the position of Minister of Rites would naturally be vacant, and could be taken over by Li Sancai, a strong and scheming man, to cooperate with the emperor in governing Liaodong.

Although he might not really know how Zhu Changluo was going to use the relationships between the Jurchen tribes and between them and Korea to cause trouble, he felt that Li Sancai was in a suitable position to help the emperor do things.

The governor of the grain transport system has been in charge for almost nine years and still cannot enter the central government. What kind of person is Li Sancai? Don’t the officials in the court know this?
"Get up." Zhu Changluo said calmly, "It's a good thing to think carefully and far-reachingly for the sake of the country. However, which positions are more important and which are not important are not set in stone. As I said before, you have to be fair. The Minister of Personnel has not been elected yet, and I haven't chosen anyone yet, but you have thought of all the positions first. Why? If I choose an unexpected person, should I only focus on these things one after another?"

"…We are ashamed."

Tian Le watched the four of them apologize together, but their tones were different.

Zhu Changluo raised his red brush and circled it: "Since Chen Jian is popular among the people, let him be the great official. It's a long way from Yunnan to the capital, Lord Wang, Lord Zhu, you should hold on for a few more months."

"……Yes."

"The six departments and thirteen supervisory censors also participated in the imperial recommendation, which was only started more than ten years ago. Now that public opinion is boiling, the next time the second-rank officials and above are recommended in the imperial recommendation, only the six departments will participate, and the thirteen supervisory censors will focus on the local areas and not spend the whole year in the capital."

The emperor reduced the number of votes in the Inspection Office by thirteen with just one sentence, and Shen Li felt depressed.

He had no selfish motives, but he did want the court to select the right people for several key positions.

Now that the emperor has dealt with it this way, wouldn’t it make everyone in the court think that the emperor also thinks that the Censorate is in a clique to suppress dissidents?

Remembering what the emperor said, Shen Li knelt down and took off his official hat: "I am old too. I beg Your Majesty to allow my remains to be returned to my hometown."

Zhu Changluo was speechless for a moment when he saw the violent temper of this cunning man.

(End of this chapter)