I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 315 Leaving the Ministry of Revenue! Shen Nian's Small Goal in Her Official Career
The ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the Double Ninth Festival, is near noon.

The autumn sun shines brightly.

A large ship sailed smoothly on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Shen Nian stood on the deck, gazing at the mountain scenery on both banks, feeling very happy.

On his way back to Beijing, he became completely at ease.

There is no need to read memorials, draft proposals, or sit in the cabinet office for most of the day.

Currently, the effects of the new policy reforms are obvious, and everything is developing as Shen Nian had predicted.

The only two variables were the selfish nature of the young Wanli Emperor and Zhang Juzheng's increasingly deteriorating health.

Faced with these two unchangeable situations, Shen Nian could only react to each situation as it arose.

At present, he still needs to accumulate more political achievements and gain a higher position in the court; otherwise, some of the plans he has been brewing for a long time will still be unable to be implemented.

In the past few days, Shen Nian has been reviewing his actions, reflecting on every step he has taken since entering officialdom.

Currently, the people support him, as do many scholars and young officials.

However, many high-ranking officials in the court, including some censors, did not like him very much.

Because he was young and held a high position, he was too ambitious and charismatic.

Because he always thought that it was better to make the officials suffer than the common people suffer.

Because the young Wanli Emperor and the other cabinet ministers trusted him, everything went smoothly for him, and all his plans succeeded.

Many officials have identified Shen Nian as the second Zhang Juzheng, and one who will become even more ruthless after becoming Grand Secretary.

They were all convinced that once Shen Nian became the Grand Secretary, life would become even more difficult for officials, gentry, nobles, landlords, and other social classes.

Some even believe that everything Shen Nian did was to achieve his saintly reputation of "putting the people first".

Not all those who oppose the new policies are as visionary as Zhao Jin, the Minister of Personnel in Nanjing, who prioritizes the interests of the people. The majority of officials are only concerned with their own interests.

Unwittingly, Shen Nian has offended many people.

These people did not retaliate against Shen Nian at the moment because Zhang Juzheng protected Shen Nian and because the young Wanli Emperor doted on Shen Nian.

However, once Zhang Juzheng retired, if Shen Nian's actions went against the young Wanli Emperor's wishes, many officials would jump out to slander Shen Nian.

In officialdom, if you are slightly stronger than your enemies, they will try every means to bring you down; but if you are significantly stronger than your enemies, they can only bow their heads.

Zhang Juzheng was able to seize power and maintain absolute control over the country because his power far exceeded that of his enemies.

At present, Shen Nian does not even have one tenth of Zhang Juzheng's power and influence.

After joining the cabinet, Shen Nian had already begun to make arrangements, whether intentionally or unintentionally.

For example, establishing personal authority at the Jingwu Academy and continuously increasing one's influence within the cabinet.

But this is not enough.

Shen Nian clearly understood that the young Wanli Emperor, after assuming power, could strip her of everything with a single sentence.

He needs to seize more power.

In order to protect themselves and to prevent the new policy from being destroyed.

Based on Shen Nian's current development, he will most likely be promoted to the rank of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent at the beginning of next year.

This is the normal procedure; if no further conferment is made, then the cabinet minister has done something wrong.

After pondering for a moment, Shen Nian murmured, "Perhaps... I should leave the Ministry of Revenue and enter the Ministry of War!"

Currently, the Minister of War is Fang Fengshi, who is constantly patrolling the border, while the actual controller of the Ministry of War is Liang Menglong, the Left Vice Minister of War.

However, Fang Fengshi already shows signs of retiring, while Liang Menglong, having maritime experience during the Longqing era, now has the intention of overseeing maritime transport, trade, and defense due to the implementation of the Maritime Trade Opening Decree. He is highly likely to be appointed as the Left Vice Minister of War next year to inspect maritime trade. If Shen Nian takes advantage of the Jingwu Academy to present more military strategies to the young Wanli Emperor and Zhang Juzheng, he has a very good chance of becoming the Minister of War.

Emperor Wanli was determined to seize military power, and Shen Nian was definitely the most suitable Minister of War in his mind.

Shen Nian believed that once Zhang Juzheng saw through his thoughts, he would definitely help him rise to power.

In the present Ming Dynasty, the Five Military Commissions were only responsible for managing military registers. The selection, promotion, succession, and reward of military officers, as well as training and the management of weapons for postal relays, were all under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War.

Once Shen Nian gains control of the Ministry of War and has a voice within it, his future status will be just like Zhang Juzheng's ability to easily control Li Chengliang and Qi Jiguang, making him even more irreplaceable in the court.

With such power, new policies can be effectively implemented from top to bottom.

Many reform policies in history were not flawed because the policies were wrong, but because the officials in charge of the reforms did not have enough power.

If Wang Anshi of the Northern Song Dynasty had possessed the same power as Zhang Juzheng, the reforms during the Xining era would never have been so distorted and twisted that everyone condemned them.

……

On the tenth day of the ninth month, in the afternoon, in the capital, in the Forbidden City, in the Wenhua Hall.

The young Wanli Emperor leisurely wrote large characters, while the eunuch Fang Ping diligently ground ink beside him.

At that time, writing large characters was the greatest hobby of the young Wanli Emperor.

He particularly enjoyed bestowing calligraphy upon officials and showing off his own calligraphy skills.

However, Zhang Juzheng did not want him to develop the same hobbies as emperors like Li Yu and Emperor Huizong of Song. Therefore, after the young Wanli Emperor finished writing, he would only admire it himself and occasionally ask Feng Bao or Shen Nian to critique it.

Just then, a eunuch announced: Shi Qing, commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, has come to pay his respects.

"Go in!" said the young Wanli Emperor.

At present, Shi Qing and the eunuch Fang Ping are his confidants. The two do not obey the orders of outside officials, nor are they ordered around by Empress Dowager Li. They are the true people in the eyes of the young Wanli Emperor.

Shi Qing strode up to the young Wanli Emperor and presented him with a letter.

"Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Shen's father, Shen Yaoshan, and his father-in-law, Gu Dongxing, were attacked by villains while passing through Cangzhou, Hejian Prefecture, on their way back to the capital!"

"What?" The young Wanli Emperor looked surprised and threw the brush in his hand aside.

The eunuch Fang Ping was also startled. He quickly took the letter, opened it, and presented it to the young Wanli Emperor.

"Is...is there any danger to his life?" the young Wanli asked as he read the letter.

"Fortunately, their guards were effective and their lives were not in danger. However, Grand Secretary Shen's father was stabbed in the arm and bled a lot. He is currently recuperating. The local officials of Cangzhou Prefecture are pursuing the perpetrators, but their motives have not yet been determined."

call!
Emperor Wanli immediately breathed a long sigh of relief.

"It's good that there's no danger to his life!" After reading the letter, the young Wanli Emperor thought for a moment and said, "Such a terrible thing has happened in Beizhili. What are the local officials doing!"

"Immediately inform the Grand Secretary of this matter. My opinion is to dismiss the Prefect and Assistant Prefect of Cangzhou, as well as the patrol inspector in charge of public security, on the spot. Then, order the Prefect of Hejian Prefecture to personally go to Cangzhou to handle this matter. The murderer must be caught. If there is a mastermind behind this, he must also be interrogated and severely punished!"

"Shen Qing will not be able to return to the capital for another ten days or so. We should not tell him about this yet, lest he rush to Cangzhou in a fit of anger."

"Furthermore, Shi Qing, you will personally lead the Imperial Guards on this trip. On one hand, it will be to escort Shen Qing's father and father-in-law back to the capital. On the other hand, you will leave a few Imperial Guards to supervise the progress of the arrest and interrogation in Hejian Prefecture!"

"Your subject obeys!" Shi Qing bowed deeply, then walked out of the hall.

After Shen Yaoshan and Gu Dongxing handed over Yaodong Trading Company to the imperial court at the beginning of the year, it took them more than half a year to complete the handover, which made a great contribution to the court. After the two returned to the capital, Emperor Wanli will reward them handsomely.

Now that such a terrible incident has occurred, Emperor Wanli was naturally angry.

Fortunately, Shen Yaoshan's life was not in danger.

If Shen Nian were to lose his life, he would have to return home to observe mourning for his parents and leave the court for twenty-seven months. The loss of a pillar of the court would have a very serious negative impact on the new policies, the cabinet, and the young Wanli Emperor.

(End of this chapter)