My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 32: The Sword is Unsheathed
Hai Rui, whose courtesy name was Gangfeng.

In the 32nd year of the Jiajing reign, Hai Rui was appointed as the instructor of Nanping County, Fujian Province.

According to the laws of the Ming Dynasty, educational officials did not have to kneel before local officials.

Hai Rui followed the imperial system and simply bowed when meeting his superiors. The two county school instructors beside him knelt on either side, and the three of them resembled a pen holder, so they were nicknamed "Pen Holder Mountain".

There is no need to elaborate on what happened next. Hai Rui submitted a memorial on public security during the Jiajing reign.

After Emperor Longqing ascended the throne, he treated Hai Rui well and promoted him.

The position of Governor of Yingtian is exactly the position that Hai Rui can currently hold.

Gao Gong stood up and paced back and forth, saying:
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

As everyone knows, Hai Rui is upright and honest, and he even dares to scold the emperor.

Moreover, Hai Rui was a well-known honest official. After he submitted the "Memorial on Public Security", the furious Emperor Jiajing sent the Jinyiwei to investigate. Hai Rui's family was penniless, and his wife, children and elderly mother had to weave cloth at home to supplement the family income.

Su Ze said lightly:
"Let heroes investigate heroes, let good men investigate good men, and let the clean stream investigate the clean stream."

After listening to this, Gao Gong grinned and said:

"What a great idea to let 'Qingliu go check Qingliu'!"

Gao Gong did not want to kill Xu Jie, but to destroy his reputation and eliminate his political influence.

He is now in charge of the Ministry of Personnel and is also a cabinet minister. If he asks the Ministry of Personnel to recommend Hai Rui as the governor of Yingtian, the cabinet will have no reason to object.

What would happen if such a great sword of the Ming Dynasty went to Jiangnan and faced the notorious Xu family?

Gao Gong returned to his seat and said to Su Ze:

"Zhao Dazhou asked you to handle the tribute from U-Tsang, but you haven't even spent a single day in the Ministry of Rites. I will report this to His Majesty tomorrow and have the Ministry of Rites handle this matter."

Su Ze felt warm in his heart. It turned out that practical leaders like Gao Gong were the easiest to get along with.

In his previous life, Su Ze met many leaders whose only skill was to make empty promises, such as "a reward of becoming a level four sponsor before retirement", and they only talked about dedication but not rewards.

A true leader who can unite his subordinates must also help them to succeed. Only when others see that you have the ability to deliver on your promises will they take a bite of your pie.

He helped Gao Gong to come up with ideas to deal with Xu Jie, and Gao Gong reciprocated by helping Su Ze solve the problem of tribute from U-Tsang.

As for why Gao Gong didn’t take action before?

He is a prime minister and an important official, and you have no relationship with him. How could he possibly help you in everything?

Anyone who has worked in the workplace knows that meeting a leader like Gao Gong is already a great fortune.

But Su Ze had already made a plan. He bowed and said:
"Your Excellency, I have already found a way to deal with the tribute from U-Tsang. Please do not worry about it."

Gao Gong looked at Su Ze again. Of course, he was not angry because of Su Ze's refusal. Instead, he showed appreciation for Su Ze's statement that he could handle the tribute affairs of U-Tsang independently.

However, Gao Gong did not ask Su Ze how he would solve the problem of the tribute dispute with U-Tsang. Anyway, no matter what Su Ze did, he could not avoid the cabinet.

Gao Gong said with satisfaction:
"I've made note of this incident. Next time you encounter any difficulty, just send a visiting card to the concierge and I'll see you."

Su Ze showed an expression of great joy when he heard this!
Don’t underestimate Gao Gong’s house! This is the residence of a cabinet minister!

Gao Gong gave me the permission to enter and exit his residence. In later generations, this would be like a pass to the sea!

The prime minister's doorman was a seventh-rank official, and many officials of the fifth and sixth ranks had no chance to meet Gao Gong.

Not to mention that Gao Gong was not only an assistant minister of the cabinet, but also the Minister of Personnel, the great minister of heaven who controlled the fate of countless officials in the Ming Dynasty! He expressed his gratitude respectfully and then left Gao Gong's house.

Gao Gong smiled slightly under the candlelight. Su Ze was still young and hot-tempered and refused to give in, but his attitude was exactly what Gao Gong wanted. Gao Gong himself was a man who was "upright and straightforward."

Su Ze didn't want to take action himself, so he waited until Zhao Zhenji was about to attack and then took action himself.

The Ministry of Personnel has the power to evaluate officials. Even if Su Ze is an official of the Ministry of Rites, Gao Gong can still rescue him.

The next day, Gao Gong also moved quickly.

The Ministry of Personnel's Selection Office reported that the Yangtze River had frequently flooded in recent years, repeatedly inundating Jiangnan. The Ming court had previously attempted to dredge the Wusong River several times, but its management had been unsuccessful for decades. Therefore, they requested the establishment of a Yingtian Governor, governing ten prefectures, namely Yingtian, Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhenjiang, Songjiang, Huizhou, Taiping, Ningguo, Anqing, and Chizhou, as well as Guangde Prefecture.

The Ministry of Personnel's Selection Office recommended Hai Rui as the governor of Yingtian. Among the cabinet ministers, Li Chunfang still did not express his opinion, Gao Gong strongly supported it, Zhao Zhenji clearly opposed it, and Zhang Juzheng had an ambiguous attitude.

As expected, this memorial was sent to the palace, and Emperor Longqing immediately agreed with Gao Gong's proposal and promoted Hai Rui to the governor of Yingtian.

This incident caused a huge storm in the court. Anyone with a little political sense knew that the key point for Hai Rui, the governor of Yingtian, was where he should be.

However, the censors from the six departments and thirteen provinces were surprisingly calm about this matter.

If the Yingtian Governor was a member of Gao Gong's party, Xu Jie's disciples and former officials would naturally attack him.

But the person recommended by the Ministry of Personnel was Hai Rui!

The Great Ming Sword personally certified by the late emperor!
You call yourself a clean official, but can you be cleaner than Hai Rui?

Moreover, Hai Rui had a solid resume. He had served as a local official and had made actual political achievements in the local area. He was capable and had a good reputation. There was really no point in attacking him.

In this way, such an appointment that was clearly aimed at the Xu family of Songjiang was passed in silence by the entire court.

But all this was just a small episode before the enthronement ceremony.

As July approached, the weather in the capital became noticeably warmer, but even hotter was the Ministry of Rites, which was responsible for the grand ceremony. A large number of officials were coming in and out, making final preparations for the ceremony.

Inside the Sifang Pavilion, two groups of people in monk robes surrounded the head of the pavilion and spoke in half-fluent Chinese:
"We are the tribute envoys from U-Tsang! Why won't you let us pay tribute?"

"We are the tribute envoys from U-Tsang! Sir, please look, this is the inspection document!"

"Your inspection documents were stolen from our temple! The inspection documents say Ganden Monastery!"

The head of Sifang Pavilion was entangled and had no choice but to shake his sleeves and said:
"Wait for me to report to the Ministry before making a decision!"

Sifangguan was the place responsible for tribute envoys from all directions. It was under the Ministry of Rites, and the person in charge was only a minor official of the seventh rank.

These two groups of U-Tsang tribute envoys lived in the Sifang Pavilion, and they were always looking for trouble, which gave the leader Ma a lot of headaches.

If something happened in Sifang Pavilion, it would definitely be Ma who would be held responsible.

But when he found the Ministry of Rites, which was responsible for the affairs of vassal states, he was told that the tribute affairs of U-Tsang had been handed over to Su Ze of the Ministry of Household Affairs by the new Shangshu.

But it was already July, and Su Zanshan had never come to Sifang Pavilion once, nor did he listen to the opinions of the two tribute envoys. He simply became a turtle.

When he thought of this, Master Ma cursed inwardly. He had heard that Su Zanshan was a Hanlin! He had never expected him to be such a fool!
Master Ma wanted to rush into Su Ze's yamen and drag him to Sifangguan to resolve the dispute.

But Su Ze works in the palace, and Master Ma does not have the authority to enter or leave the palace.

"Clear stream, clear stream! Bullshit clear stream! Ugh!"

The more Master Ma thought about it, the angrier he became. At this moment, a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites came hurriedly to the Sifang Pavilion.

(End of this chapter)