For hundreds of years in the Ming Dynasty, after officials reached the third rank, if they could go further, their promotion paths were mostly similar.
First of all, you need to serve in the Metropolitan Procuratorate or the Sixth Ministry, and become a censor or minister. After several years of experience, you can fully understand the policies and programs of the imperial court. This is the first step;
Then, he was sent to the local area to serve as the second-level chief envoy to the left and right, and became a feudal official. He was transferred several times between different provinces, so that he could accumulate enough qualifications, experience and connections. This is the second level. step;
Next, if the official's political performance during his tenure as chief envoy is sufficiently outstanding and his backers in the court are strong enough, he can return to the center of the capital and serve as a minister of the six ministries. This is the third step;
In the end, if the official's qualifications, means, and grace are enough, he can go one step further and enter the cabinet to become the chief minister of the court, and from then on he will be a highly respected minister!
Today, the four elders in the cabinet, whether they are Zhou Shangjing, Huang Yourong, Cheng Yuandao, or Shen Changmao, have all followed a similar path and climbed to their current position step by step.
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However, this is just a normal promotion path, but it does not apply to Zhao Junchen.
Since entering the officialdom, Zhao Junchen has won the favor of Emperor Deqing. In addition, Emperor Deqing cannot do without Zhao Junchen's financial management skills, so Zhao Junchen has stayed in the center of the capital, serving in the Ministry of Household Affairs, and has not been sent out. Experience as a local official.
Today, in just seven or eight years, Zhao Junchen has become the Minister of Household Affairs of the imperial court and a second-rank official in the imperial court! For hundreds of years in the Ming Dynasty, no one has been promoted so fast. Can be compared with Zhao Junchen.
However, although this experience seemed to be smooth sailing. With the help of Emperor Deqing, he took a shortcut and skipped the step of being sent to a local official. However, the principle of "no pain, no gain" is the norm in the world, and taking shortcuts often leads to It means there will be some kind of hidden danger!
Today, Zhao Junchen has a deep understanding of this!
Being sent to a local place as an official and becoming a feudal official may seem like you are far away from the center of the capital, and the process is quite hard, but for those ambitious officials, it is absolutely an indispensable and crucial step.
This is because the environment in the local officialdom is relatively simple. Unlike the capital city where there are many factions and intricate connections, and countless people are watching every move, once you become a frontier official, you will not face many constraints. You can promote cronies and bribe officials. , when expanding your network, there is not much pressure and competition. As long as you work hard, you can get a large number of cronies and cronies. When you enter the center of the court in the future, there will be people who can help you.
For example, Zhou Shangjing, before joining the cabinet, had successively served as the right chief envoy to Henan, the left chief envoy to Anhui, and the left chief envoy to Huguang. During his tenure as an official in these three provinces, he promoted and bribed many cronies. How many officials did he recruit, so that today we have a large number of talents with disciples all over the world. It is precisely because of this that Zhou Shangjing's position in the court was able to stabilize Mount Tai.
Another example is Huang Yourong. He served as chief envoy in Shaanxi, Jiangxi, and Guizhou provinces, and during this period he accumulated a large number of personal connections and close disciples. Most of his major cronies in the government today also served as governors in these three provinces. Official experience - Even though Huang Yourong can't compete with Zhao Junchen in the party struggle now, when it comes to his background, he is far from comparable to Zhao Junchen.
To put it simply, this experience of serving as a feudal official is a key step for these powerful officials in the DPRK to lay a solid foundation for themselves and accumulate knowledge!
As for Zhao Junchen, it is precisely because he lacks the experience of serving as a feudal official that he is now facing a shortage of talents.
For example, now, there are so many vacancies of real power officials in the government, but Zhao Junchen can only watch helplessly because he has no one under his command!
In this regard, Zhao Junchen was also helpless, but he could only operate slowly and take it one step at a time.
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However, with Zhou Shangjing's sagacity, he had already understood Zhao Junchen's shortcomings, so he proposed such a deal to Zhao Junchen!
——He will fully support one of Zhao Junchen's cronies to serve as the chief envoy of Shandong, while Zhao Junchen will give up the fight for the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment!
I have to say that Zhao Junchen was really moved by Zhou Shangjing's proposal.
Although the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice is more important, for Zhao Junchen, the position of Shandong Chief Envoy is more needed at present!
Zhao Junchen knew that Emperor Deqing could not live without him, so he would never send him abroad to serve as a feudal official.
But Zhao Junchen can choose a suitable candidate from his cronies for transfer!
Then, with the help of this crony, Zhao Junchen can still promote cronies, bribe officials, expand contacts, and make up for his own shortcomings! Just like what several cabinet ministers have done before!
Moreover, compared with the chief envoys of other provinces, the position of Shandong chief envoy is more attractive to Zhao Junchen!
Firstly, Shandong is very close to the capital, making it easier for Zhao Junchen to contact and control him. There is no need to worry that his crony will lose control after becoming a feudal official, causing Zhao Junchen's various operations to go to waste.
Someone else made the wedding dress!
Secondly, due to the emergence of the "Southern Tour Preparation Fraud Case", Prince Zhu Heyu is now serving as the imperial envoy to inspect local areas. During this period, from the capital to Jiangnan, countless officials from various places along the way have been dismissed. This situation is the worst in Shandong.
It's obvious!
Nowadays, there are a large number of official vacancies in Shandong Yiyi. If you get the position of Shandong Chief Envoy, you can also promote a large number of cronies and bribe officials, thus getting twice the result with half the effort and making up for a lot of savings in a short time!
Therefore, Zhao Junchen couldn't help but be moved by Zhou Shangjing's proposal.
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However, although Zhao Junchen was moved, he did not agree immediately.
Zhao Junchen still needs to consider more things. For example, if he cooperates with Zhou Shangjing, how will Emperor Deqing react? For example, he has promised to win the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice for Li Lide before. If he breaks his promise, his own
What thoughts will those cronies have?
Zhao Junchen needs to consider these things seriously and cannot just focus on the benefits!
On the other side, seeing Zhao Junchen frowning and thinking about something, Zhou Shangjing was not in a hurry, just waiting quietly.
Zhou Shangjing believes that Zhao Junchen will never reject him, because in Zhou Shangjing's eyes, Zhao Junchen is a smart man. And smart people will only choose things that are beneficial to themselves!
Sure enough, after thinking about it for a long time, Zhao Junchen suddenly said: "Master Chief Assistant, I'm afraid that these things you and I have said do not count. They have to be decided by His Majesty. If His Majesty has other ideas, even if you and I have the intention.
, there’s nothing you can do about it if you’re afraid.”
In a certain sense, Zhao Junchen's inquiry was already an agreement to Zhou Shangjing's proposal.
After hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, Zhou Shangjing smiled slightly and said slowly: "Junchen, are you worried that Your Majesty will have thoughts in his mind after seeing you and I cooperating? In fact, you and I don't have to show it to the public this time.
Your Majesty, your Majesty also knows that Junchen, you want Li Lide, the Minister of Punishment, to take over the position of Minister of Punishment, and you are determined to win it. However, Li Lide's qualifications are slightly insufficient after all. As long as Junchen, you will not fight for it with all your strength, there is no chance that you will get this position.
on his head.
Looking at the whole court, only the former Shandong Chief Envoy Zhang Bochong was about to serve as his term. He had outstanding political achievements during his tenure and was most suitable for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment. By that time, the position of Shandong Chief Envoy was vacant.
Junchen, if you try your best to fight for it, your majesty will definitely agree out of compensation. In this way, your majesty will not know about this cooperation between you and me, so why should you worry, Junchen?"
After Zhao Junchen thought for a moment, he suddenly smiled and said: "It is true that Li Lide has been serving in the Sixth Department over the years. He lacks some qualifications, and now is a good time to go to the local area for experience, so the younger generation plans to let Li Lide succeed Zhang Bochong, the chief envoy of Shandong.
What do you think, Mr. Fu?"
Since Li Lide could not be appointed as the Minister of Justice, out of compensation considerations, Zhao Junchen decided to let Li Lide serve as the chief envoy of Shandong. Moreover, even though Li Lide was slightly lacking in ability, he had always been diligent in doing things since he joined Zhao Junchen, so
Zhao Junchen can also reuse him with confidence.
In this regard, Zhou Shangjing naturally would not interfere. He nodded and said: "Junchen's words are for the sake of the country. Naturally, I will not stand in the way."
"However, in this way, although there is a candidate for the position of Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, with the transfer of Li Lide, the positions of the two Ministers of the Ministry of Punishment are all vacant. According to this junior, Qin Huaiyuan, the young minister of Dali Temple, serves in the Sanfa Department
Over the years, I have been the best at criminal trials, and I am qualified to take over the position of the Minister of Justice. I wonder what the Chief Assistant thinks?" Zhao Junchen changed the topic and said again.
After Li Lide was transferred, all his original operations in the Ministry of Justice would inevitably be taken over by other factions, and Zhao Junchen's influence on the Ministry of Justice would inevitably be greatly reduced, but this was something Zhao Junchen did not want to see.
However, now there is really no candidate to replace Li Lide under Zhao Junchen, so Zhao Junchen thought of Qin Huaiyuan, the young minister of Dali Temple.
Although this Qin Huaiyuan is a centrist, because of the "Huaihe River Flood Case", he has already cooperated with Zhao Junchen once, and also accepted a bribe of 30,000 taels of silver from Zhao Junchen. The two parties already have a friendship! If Zhao Junchen this time
Then help him sit in the position of minister of the Ministry of Punishment. Due to the interpersonal relationship between the two parties, this Qin Huaiyuan may not be able to be bribed by Zhao Junchen and become Zhao Junchen's new friend in the DPRK and China.
As for Zhao Junchen's wishful thinking, Zhou Shangjing could naturally guess it. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said: "All three officials of the Ministry of Punishment have resigned. We really need an official who is good at criminal trial to take charge. Qin Huaiyuan will serve as the director of Dali Temple."
He has made great achievements since becoming Shaoqing, so he is indeed a good candidate."
In this way, with the bargaining between Zhao Junchen and Zhou Shangjing, this transaction was finally confirmed.
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Next, Zuo Lanshan, the Minister of Industry, Lin Wei, the Minister of Rites, Feng Po, the Minister of Punishments, and the two cabinet ministers Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao, all came one after another after receiving the order from Emperor Deqing.
Among them, Feng Po seemed to have guessed his next fate, and his expression became more and more old. After arriving outside the Yangxin Hall, he was quite silent, not talking to anyone, and just quietly waiting for Emperor Deqing. The call of.
However, Huang Yourong and Shen Changmao, the two pavilion elders, came hand in hand. While talking and laughing, the two made intimate gestures from time to time, as if they were afraid that others would not know that they had formed an alliance.
After everyone had arrived, the eunuch Zhang Xiu appeared from the Yangxin Hall and announced: "My lords, Your Majesty has summoned you to see me."