Since Emperor Deqing returned to Beijing from his southern tour, the balance of the temple situation has been broken. For a time, it can be said to be turbulent and unpredictable. After a series of overt and covert struggles among the major parties in the court, the changes in personnel and structure have finally settled. Naturally, each major faction has its own winners and losers.?
Huang Yourong, the former cabinet minister, finally resigned sadly and returned to his hometown; Shen Changmao was plotted by others and his reputation plummeted, and now he can only barely protect himself; the "Prince Party" once regained its disadvantage under Zhao Shancai's plan, but in the end because of Prince Zhu Heyu's impulsiveness also destroyed his advantage. Prince Zhu Heyu was even ordered by Emperor Deqing to shut himself up and think about his mistakes.
The above three parties are undoubtedly the losers in this party struggle.
At the same time, Zhou Shangjing seemed to be doing nothing, but he watched the fire from the other side and intervened later. Not only did he not suffer any losses, he also successfully sent his crony Li He into the cabinet to become the cabinet minister, stabilizing his voice in the cabinet;
However, Emperor Deqing took advantage of the changes in the situation in the temple, and took advantage of the situation. He successively recalled two important officials, Liang Fuchen, the governor of the three sides, and Wang Baoren, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs of Nanjing, to the capital. This enhanced his influence in the temple, and also successfully made Liang Fuchen Became the new cabinet minister and successfully joined the cabinet;
As for Zhao Junchen, he took the initiative and actively fought for it. In order to fish in troubled waters, he even did not hesitate to further disrupt the situation in the temple. In the end, he naturally gained a lot. Not only did Zuo Lanshan become a cabinet minister, but he also defended the Ministry of Industry and obtained the Shang Dynasty. The power of tax rectification has greatly increased the momentum and morale of the "Zhao Party";
The above three parties are the winners in this party struggle.
Although some people were happy and others were sad about the final result, after the dust settled, the temple structure had regained its balance, and the major parties in the DPRK were all a little tired. The winners were busy digesting the results of the battle, and the losers were eager to gain a foothold. We were unable to do anything else, so the temple also entered a short period of stability.
However, after digesting the results of the victory, the winner is naturally a little greedy and wants to further expand the fruits of victory. While the loser is busy protecting himself, he is also looking forward to turning defeat into victory and making a comeback again, so the situation seems to be calm. Underneath, there are still undercurrents surging. Although the major parties have not made any big moves, they have made small moves one after another.
Before I knew it, ten days had passed.
And the major political parties have also found their next target, which is the "Beijing Inspection" in half a month!
The so-called "Beijing Examination" is a system used by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in the Ming Dynasty to assess officials in the capital. All officials below the third rank in the capital were included in the assessment. During the Hongwu period, the examination was prescribed every three years, and later it was changed to every ten years, and now it is changed to four. In the annual exam, the "Four Qualities" and "Eight Methods" are used as the promotion and demotion standards. Those who excel in the assessment can be promoted first, and can also be promoted to local officials or even become feudal officials.
It can be said that although the "Beijing-Cha" cannot affect the core figures of the major parties, it can directly affect the foundation, heritage, and influence of the major parties, which is the most critical thing.
Therefore, surrounding the "Beijing Cha", all the major parties are ready to move and have their own plans.
*
On this day, Zuo Lanshan, the new cabinet minister, Huo Zhengyuan, a bachelor and Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, Chen Dongxiang, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Zhan Shanchang, minister of the Ministry of Revenue, gathered in the Zhao Mansion to meet and discuss with Zhao Junchen.
Among these four people, Zuo Lanshan has the highest status and is now the elder of the pavilion; Huo Zhengyuan's reputation, vision, methods, etc. are all among the best among the "Zhao Party"; Chen Dongxiang has now become a worker.
Minister of the Ministry, a second-rank official of the imperial court, and regarded himself as Zhao Junchen's minion; as for Zhan Shanchang, he was the first official to take refuge with Zhao Junchen, and was the oldest among the "Zhao Party"... Therefore, these four people are the "Zhao Party"
The most core figure is second only to Zhao Junchen in the "Zhao Party".
And if Zhao Junchen has any plans and needs the support of "Zhao Party", he will often communicate with the four of them in advance.
Seeing that the "Beijing Investigation" was about to begin, Zhao Junchen summoned the four of them to discuss the next plan of the "Zhao Party".
However, at the beginning, Zhao Junchen did not talk about the "Beijing Inspection" matter.
After Zhao Junchen and the four people sat down respectively, Zhao Junchen took a sip from his tea cup, then turned to Zuo Lanshan and asked: "After Mr. Zuo Ge entered the cabinet to assist the administration, are you still used to it?
"
Listening to Zhao Junchen asking about his cabinet affairs, Zuo Lanshan quickly replied: "Now I am just joining the cabinet for the first time, and I am adapting to learning. Although I have gradually become accustomed to cabinet affairs, I can only watch indifferently and do not have the ability to do anything yet.
It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s mediocre and inactive…”
Having said this, Zuo Lanshan shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Master Zhao spent so much effort to send me to the cabinet, but after I entered the cabinet, I have been unable to repay Master Zhao's kindness. I am really ashamed."
Zhao Junchen didn't care, just smiled and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Zuo. You are just entering the cabinet for the first time. The cabinet elders are not easy to deal with. It is expected that they will be struggling temporarily. As long as you can slow down
Adapt slowly, gain a firm foothold, and sooner or later you will be able to excel in the future.”
After a pause, Zhao Junchen continued: "What's more, Mr. Zuo Ge has done nothing. Not to mention that after you became Mr. Ge, the voice of us people in the temple has increased a lot. Let's just talk about the past few days.
Ke Dao suddenly challenged the Ministry of Industry. If Mr. Zuo Ge had not used the influence of the cabinet to delay the matter for a few days, we were caught off guard and might have suffered some hidden losses, although it was not enough to shake our resolve.
Fundamentally, but Chen Dongxiang encountered such a thing just after he took over the manual department, so he will inevitably be affected."
Speaking of this, Zhao Junchen sighed with emotion on his face: "After all, the cabinet is the core institution of the temple. It has the power to make decisions and has huge influence. As long as the cabinet's policies are slightly deviated, countless people will benefit, and
Countless people will be harmed. In many cases, as long as the cabinet ministers use their hands and feet a little, it will be worth our busy work for many days, so Mr. Zuo Ge, you don’t have to belittle yourself. This is just the beginning. You will be able to contribute in the future.
."
Chen Dongxiang also nodded and said: "Yes, I really have to thank Mr. Zuo Ge for what happened the past few days. Otherwise, I have just taken over the manual department and my prestige has not yet been established. If something like this happened, I would be in a lot of trouble."
However, after hearing Zhao Junchen's encouragement, Zuo Lanshan still didn't have much confidence and said slowly: "It's not that simple. There seem to be six ministers in the cabinet, but now Liang Fuchen has not come to Beijing, except Zhou Shangjing and
Apart from Shen Changmao, the other cabinet elders are just decorations! In fact, even Shen Changmao only has the power to "vote" by virtue of his position as Cabinet Assistant. His power is much greater than that of ordinary cabinet elders. During this period, he has obtained
With our support, he is able to dictate terms within the cabinet, but even so, he can only compromise with Zhou Shangjing in many cases...
I'm not afraid of your jokes, Mr. Zhao. During this period of time, I was working in Wenyuan Pavilion, and I just watched Zhou Shangjing and Shen Changmao bickering with each other... As for me, Li He, and Cheng Yuandao, they are not even qualified to interrupt. None... The position of a cabinet minister looks noble, but sitting up is not as comfortable as the minister of the Ministry of Industry."
Hearing Zuo Lanshan's complaint, scholar Huo Zhengyuan intervened and said: "This is natural. Although the cabinet is the core of the temple, the suppression of the cabinet by the emperors of our dynasties has never stopped, so the cabinet has always been None of them has obtained legal status and is not a recognized central administrative agency. As a result, although the cabinet is powerful, its position is somewhat embarrassing. Externally, it needs to make friends with the inner court's ceremonial supervisor, and internally, it has to win over the six yamen. At the same time, The Six Ministries are directly responsible to the emperor and have complete powers. Although their rank is not as good as that of the Cabinet and they do not have the right to vote, from a institutional perspective, the Six Ministries do not have to take orders from the Cabinet, but the Cabinet cannot bypass the Six Ministries in handling affairs. Therefore, the Six Ministries also have the confidence to cooperate with the Cabinet. Confrontation."
Having said this, Huo Zhengyuan shook his head and sighed: "In this way, the power of the ministers in the cabinet depends entirely on which of them wins the support and support of more officials, especially the support of the six ministries! And Zhou Shangjing now has the Ministry of Personnel and the With the strong support of the two yamen of the Ministry of Punishment, he also has great influence in the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the Hanlin Academy. His disciples and cronies are everywhere in the court, and even the Inner Court Ceremony Supervisor has his supporters, so he has great influence in the imperial court. The cabinet has always said that no one can compete with others, but even if Shen Changmao becomes a cabinet minister, he can only try to protect himself in front of him."
Zhao Junchen comforted him again and said: "Your Majesty is happy to see the overt and covert fighting between the cabinet and the six ministries. Otherwise, the importance of the Supervisor of Ceremonies will be greatly reduced. However, Mr. Zuo Ge, don't be too discouraged. You can't do it now." We have also received the support of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Household Affairs. Although it is not as good as Zhou Shangjing, it is better than other cabinet elders. No one dares to ignore you. When our power and influence further increase, you, Zuo Ge elder His status in the cabinet will definitely increase."
Zuo Lanshan sighed: "Master Zhao and Master Huo can understand clearly. Now I can only wait for the opportunity."
During this period of time, Zuo Lanshan was not going well in the cabinet. He only felt that there were constraints everywhere. Fortunately, he had Zhao Junchen's strong support, so he was able to gain a firm foothold.
It is precisely because of this that Zuo Lanshan feels more and more that he cannot do without Zhao Junchen's support, otherwise he will only become a noble decoration. After realizing this, the trace of dissatisfaction he had some time ago has now completely dissipated. .
Zhao Junchen saw the change in Zuo Lanshan's expression and guessed the change in Zuo Lanshan's mentality.
Zhao Junchen smiled softly and said: "Boss Zuo Ge, there is no need to be impatient. There is still a long time to come, and this kind of thing can only be planned slowly. However, the Beijing inspection will soon be held every four years. As long as we operate it properly, This can make up for the lack of knowledge and foundation and narrow the gap between us and Zhou Shangjing. At that time, Mr. Zuo Ge will be able to work in the cabinet much more easily."
Seeing that Zhao Junchen finally talked about today's topic, everyone's eyes lit up.
Zhan Shanchang finally found a chance to interrupt and asked quickly: "What do you think, Mr. Zhao?"
Zhao Junchen nodded slightly, his expression seemed casual, but his tone was quite serious: "Everyone must have noticed that our power has developed to this point, and there has been a bottleneck. First, our influence was only concentrated in the center of the capital. Later,
It has been unable to expand to places outside the capital. Secondly, it is a shortage of talents and is often stretched thin. Finally, it is because of its shallow foundation and foundation. It can only win over certain officials for its own use, but it is unable to cultivate its own talents. "
After hearing Zhao Junchen's description, Zuo Lanshan, Huo Zhengyuan and others showed admiration on their faces and nodded in agreement.
As the core figures of the "Zhao Party", they were naturally aware of Zhao Party's problems, but they were unable to summarize them as clearly as Zhao Junchen.
On the other side, Zhao Junchen continued: "I have been aware of these problems for a long time and have been working hard to improve them. In order to spread our influence to the local area, I arranged for Li Lide to serve as the chief envoy of Shandong. At that time
At the time when Prince Zhu Heyu was investigating the fraud case in preparation for the southern tour, Shandong's officialdom was greatly damaged and many vacancies appeared. The purpose of arranging Li Lide to go to Shandong was to win these vacancies into our hands; in order to make up for our lack of talent.
, I have also been recruiting available people among the officials; and in order to make up for our inability to cultivate talents, I also spent a lot of effort during the joint examination..."
After hearing Zhao Junchen's explanation, everyone felt even more admired.
Before that, they had only seen the surface of Zhao Junchen's plan. Now that they heard Zhao Junchen's detailed explanation, they finally understood the core of Zhao Junchen's plan. With this long-term vision alone, Zhao Junchen would surpass the vast majority.
Official.
On the other side, seeing everyone looking at him intently, Zhao Junchen continued: "However, those methods in the past are just treating the headache and the foot, and cannot change the fundamentals. If we want to truly make up for our various problems,
As for the shortcomings, the most important thing is to look at the current "Beijing Cha"! As long as it operates properly, our cronies can leave the capital and be promoted to local officials as parents. Taking advantage of the situation, we can also spread our influence to the local areas;
After they become local officials, they will inevitably experience hardship and grow greatly. By then, our dilemma of insufficient talents will be alleviated a lot; after they make a difference in various yamen, we will have reason to promote them to higher levels.
position, so that we can also cultivate our own talents."
Having said this, Zhao Junchen looked solemn and concluded slowly: "So, the next 'Beijing Cha' will be our top priority. Whether our power can be further improved and our future depends on us."
How much benefit can be obtained from the 'Beijing Cha'!"
As Zhao Junchen finished speaking, all the core figures of the "Zhao Party" were aroused by Zhao Junchen. They felt that the future was bright and their hearts were full of motivation. They stood up one after another and replied in unison: "Please give me your orders, Mr. Zhao. I
We must go all out and work together to achieve great things!"
…
ps: Well, it’s still two chapters in one.
From now on, Chongzi will update a large chapter every day, at least 4,000 words. If there is still enough energy, it will be updated twice, but the number of additional chapters is uncertain, ranging from 4,000 words to 2,000 words.
In other words, from now on, at least four thousand words will be updated every day!