Traitors of the Manchu dynasty, why do you make me an emperor through the ages Chapter 233 Dividing the cake, the contradiction between Cai Bian and Sima Guang
Chapter 233 Dividing the cake, the contradiction between Cai Bian and Sima Guang
Wang Mang was silent for a moment after hearing this, then cupped his hands and said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
The Ministry of War is the most unlikely yamen to steal the job of holding the examination, so there is no risk in temporarily transferring the job of conducting the examination to them.
What's more, Sima Guang, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, serves as the deputy magistrate Gongju?
"Uncle Wang Zong, please be more busy with the errands of the Ministry of Rites these days."
Wang Mang's heart moved. He thought that Li Qian was going to talk about the candidate for another minister of the Ministry of Rites, but he didn't expect that his voice would change and he would talk about the examination.
"As for the examiner of the general examination, I actually already have a candidate in mind."
Li Qian smiled and said, "I'll tell you what it's like for Uncle Zong to listen."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wang Mang's heart moved and he nodded in agreement.
In fact, he had already guessed who the candidate would be, or perhaps all the ministers in the dynasty had already guessed it.
Right Prime Minister Qin Hui.
"I think the Wei Zheng and Wei Qing family are more suitable to be the examiners for this time. What do you think, Uncle Zong?"
"I respectfully obey...Master Wei?"
Wang Mang suddenly raised his head and looked at Li Qian in astonishment.
"Yes, that's him." Li Qian nodded, indicating that you heard correctly.
In fact, letting Wei Zhenglai serve as the examiner was something he had already thought about, and Qin Hui was just a smoke bomb he released.
"But……"
Wang Mang couldn't help but said: "But the chief examiner of the general examination has always been the imperial minister and minister. Mr. Wei is not the minister."
Li Qian shook his head, knowing that he had to convince Wang Mang first.
It is very difficult to convince such people who accept death, but Li Qian was well prepared today.
Not only was he sure to convince Wang Mang, but he might also make Wang Mang willing to support him and help Li Qian convince other ministers.
"Uncle Zong, Wei Qing's family is from the first rank of imperial censor, the same rank as Zaifu. Why can't he be the examiner?"
"Same as Zaifu, but not Zaifu."
Wang Mang's logic was very clear, and he was not distracted by Li Qian's simple words. Instead, he said firmly: "Your Majesty, only the Prime Minister can serve as the examiner of the joint examination. This is the court practice."
Li Qian was blocked by him and was not angry. Instead, he smiled and waved his hand: "Uncle Wang Zong, don't be anxious yet."
"You have always admired ancient rituals, then think about it, were the imperial censors in ancient times the same as the ministers and ministers?"
"minister……"
Wang Mang was about to speak, but suddenly froze on the spot.
Li Qian looked at him with a smile and was not in a hurry to urge him.
When Da Qian first established the country, the Three-Gong system was indeed implemented for a period of time, and the imperial censor was responsible for inspecting hundreds of officials. He was one of the three princes and had a distinguished status.
Later, through the evolution of the official system, it gradually became the current four different provinces and six departments, but that period of history cannot be ignored and indelible.
Sure enough, after Wang Mang hesitated for a moment, he nodded firmly.
Li Qian smiled when he saw this: "Supervising hundreds of officials, what an important position it is?"
"The edicts and policies formulated by me and the imperial court need to be implemented by hundreds of officials. If there is no one to supervise, how will the hundreds of officials implement the imperial decrees? The imperial censorship has declined, and today's Daqian is the answer."
Wang Mang was silent, although he subconsciously felt that Li Qian's logic might be wrong, and the ancient rituals mentioned by His Majesty the Emperor were slightly different from what he wanted...
But no matter what, at least the current situation strongly supports His Majesty the Emperor's words.
Li Qian didn't know what Wang Mang was thinking, or even if he knew, he wouldn't care too much.
Two people cannot have exactly the same thoughts and ideas, and there is no need to force them to be the same, as that would be bad for both parties.
Li Qian didn't really want to restore ancient rituals. What he wanted now was just to have a common general direction with Wang Mang, and that was enough.
He stood up and took a few steps forward with his hands behind his hands, and said with emotion: "Uncle Zong, the ancient rituals you insist on have many similarities with my thoughts, especially the part about Yushitai."
"Now I not only want the Wei Qing family to be the examiners of the joint examination, but also want to restore the Yushitai to its former state."
Wang Mang was silent for a moment, then nodded, and said solemnly: "There is no fault in your majesty, and I will only obey your majesty's orders."
He is not an innocent child and naturally understands that nothing in this world can be achieved overnight.
Wang Mang hopes for an ancient ritual that is older than Daqian, but with the current situation in the court, how can this be achieved?
We can only do it step by step. It is not a bad idea to restore it to the time when the country was first founded during the Qian Dynasty, and then plan for the follow-up...
Hearing this, Li Qian understood what he meant, smiled and nodded: "Okay."
From now on, Li Qian has initially established his own, real political gang.
Political partners cannot gather together purely on the basis of interests. Such a group is too fragile and too dispersed.
It is best to have the same or similar beliefs and goals in addition to interests. This way, you will have more risk resistance and cohesion than other groups.
For example, the Qi Party, the Chu Party, and the Qin Party who were once active in the Daqian court...
In addition to common interests, each party also has common goals and common constraints...and they are from generation to generation. Every imperial examination has a steady stream of fresh blood flowing into the party, keeping the party strong and vital.
These parties are terrible and tenacious, but with the efforts of successive generations of Daqian emperors, these "parties of princes and states" were gradually weakened, and this form of party formation gradually emerged from the Daqian court, and now it is no longer at all No one will ever mention this again.
What replaced them were political parties centered on powerful ministers. Such parties were much more fragile than those regional parties and vassal-state parties.
For example, Yan Song's Yan Dang, Cai Jing's Cai Dang, He Shen's He Dang...
The power of these people may have exceeded that of the former Qi Party and Chu Party, but in the eyes of the emperors, their harm was limited.
As long as the vassal states are immortal, the parties of these vassal states can continue to exist and suck blood from Da Gan forever.
However, these factions of powerful ministers are centered on powerful ministers. As long as this minister dies, they will disappear sooner or later, and at most they will only harm a generation.
Li Qian's current behavior of recruiting Wang Mang into his service is essentially no different from these partisan behaviors.
It's just that his status as emperor represents orthodoxy, and the imperial party is much better than the minister's party.
"Your Majesty, do you want the deputy examiner to be selected from within the Zhongshu Province?"
Wang Mang looked at Li Qian and asked.
Li Qian smiled and nodded: "Let's just say Wan Qixi, the right servant of Zhongshu."
This time I used Qin Hui as a smoke bomb, so I had to give him some compensation, otherwise Qin Hui might be embarrassed in the court, which would not be good for the relationship between the two parties.
Although the deputy examiner was slightly behind the chief examiner, he was not far behind, enough to give him an explanation.
As for why Wang Ciweng was not selected but Wan Qixi was selected, there is also a reason.
In the history of Li Qian's previous life, Wang Ciweng had always been Qin Hui's loyal dog, but although Wan Qixi was also "one of Qin Hui's three good friends", he later fell out with Qin Hui, and the two turned against each other.
Li Qian didn't know what the relationship between the two was now, but he was still very happy to see that Qin Hui's camp could be divided at this time.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wang Mang didn't have any objections and silently approved Li Qian's choice: "After I return to the Ministry of Rites, I will discuss it with you adults."
It is said to be a discussion, but Sima Guang, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, has a very good relationship with Wang Mang. If both of them agree, there must be no one in the Ministry of Rites who dares to object.
Li Qian smiled and nodded, very satisfied with his attitude: "Uncle Da Zong, what do you think about the candidates for the examination?"
"Is there anyone you would like to recommend?",
This time, it was Li Qian who came to ask Wang Mang: "If there are any talents that you think are good and are qualified for the position of the same examiner, there is no need to stick to official positions. It is not a bad idea to promote them."
Wang Mang's heart was moved, but he still took out a document from his sleeve: "Your Majesty, this is a preliminary discussion by the Ministry of Rites. As a fellow examiner, I would like to ask your Majesty to review it."
"Um."
After taking it, Li Qian flipped through it, compared it, and found many names he was familiar with.
"Uncle Da Zong is attentive."
After Li Qian took a general look, he raised his head with a smile and asked Wang Mang: "It's just that the number of fellow examiners is limited, and these people can't all be appointed. Who do you think is the most suitable?"
Wang Mang hesitated for a moment and then named a few people: "This is an official who both I and Sima Shilang think are good."
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Li Qian circled the names of these people with a red pen and said with a smile: "What else?"
"There are more than 30 examiners to choose from in total. Is your Ministry of Rites just choosing these few?"
Wang Mang was stunned for a moment, and then he decisively named several names, until he racked his brains and couldn't think of any suitable ones.
"good."
Li Qian continued writing for about eight or nine times before he stopped.
"These are the officials I think are pretty good. The Ministry of Rites can refer to them when they get back. As for the other candidates, you can just go back and discuss them yourself. There is no need to come to me again for questioning."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Wang Mang responded, took the documents and was about to leave.
"Wait a minute, Wang Zongbo."
Li Qian suddenly stopped him again and asked with a smile: "I said at the court meeting before that I asked the eldest uncle to consider the candidate for the right minister of the Ministry of Rites. What did the eldest uncle think?"
Wang Mang was stunned, as if he didn't expect Li Qian to mention this again. Didn't he say that he would be busy for a few days?
After thinking about it, he still replied conservatively: "I don't have any ideas for the time being. Now it seems that I will either recruit ministers from other departments or directly promote them from below."
"I wonder if your Majesty has anyone you like?"
Due to Li Qian's words at the court meeting, the competition for the position of minister has not yet completely erupted.
As long as those who are qualified to covet this position are holding back their energy, they are just waiting for the examiners to enter the Gongyuan and the court can free up their hands to compete for it with all their strength.
The positions of these two ministers are so tempting. The ministers from the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Punishments who are not as good as the Ministry of Etiquette must be eyeing this position.
Just like Su Ling'a, he is the right minister of the Ministry of Industry. Although his transfer to the right minister of the Ministry of Rites seems to be a horizontal transfer, according to the court's practice and the unspoken rules of civil servants, the Ministry of Rites is a higher level than the Ministry of Work, so This is considered a promotion.
In addition, the imperial court has so many counties, and each county governor holds an official position of the fourth rank. They are also qualified to be promoted to the rank of minister of the third rank.
From a local official of the fourth rank to a powerful minister of the capital of the third rank, this is a step to the sky!
Compared with many people, they must have started to use their connections and prepare to send people to Beijing from the first moment they got the news.
There are also those fourth-rank officials in the capital. They may fight even more fiercely.
Of course, most of the latter two don't care what ministry they serve as ministers. For them, as long as they can reach the third rank, it is considered a success.
If the position of the right minister of the Ministry of Rites is taken away by the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, then the vacant position of the right minister of the Ministry of Industry will definitely become the target of these people...
Therefore, this battle for the assistant minister will be particularly fierce and there will be many variables.
If the Ministry of Etiquette cannot be won, the fourth-rank official of the Minister of Household Affairs will probably turn around and support the Ministry of Works, and the Minister of Punishment will be promoted in exchange for the Minister's support in taking over his position.
Others will fake a shot and become a spy to infiltrate a certain minister, provide intelligence to others, and even cheat him at critical moments to create opportunities for his competitors. This is also to gain support for taking over...
Anyway, the past competitions for ministers in Daqian have shown that officials will definitely play this process in all kinds of ways.
If you want to appoint a candidate at this time, let the news out as soon as possible. This is to tell other officials that they should not waste their efforts again and it is better to compete for another opportunity.
If we hadn't told him earlier and had to wait until the result was finalized before releasing news of the official decision, it would be equivalent to offending all the officials vying for this position.
Cai Jing suffered this loss before.
In fact, as long as this trick is done well, there will be no problems at all, but unexpectedly, Li Qian leaked the news of the appointment, which became the reason for Cai Jing to overturn.
"It's not that I have a favorite candidate, but I feel that the Cai Jing and Cai Qing family may have a favorite candidate."
Cai Jing?
Wang Mang was once again shocked by His Majesty's thoughts.
This... wasn't this just a fight to the death? Why are you thinking about Cai Jing now?
Facing his eyes, Li Qian smiled softly: "Uncle Zong, I believe you are familiar with Cai Bian, right?"
"Cai Bian?"
Wang Mang's voice suddenly rose a few degrees, and then he realized that he had lost his composure.
Li Qian looked at him curiously: "I think you may know each other, but looking at Uncle Zong's behavior, it seems that you are still familiar with him?"
"His Majesty……"
Wang Mang smiled bitterly: "If Cai Bian comes to the Ministry of Rites as a minister, the Ministry of Rites will probably be unstable."
Li Qian became interested when he saw him like this. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly realized and figured out the connection: "Could it be that Sima Shilang is at odds with him?"
Wang Mang nodded, with a hint of helplessness on his face: "Your Majesty should know that Cai Bian once served as the Minister of Rites. At that time, he was a colleague of the Minister of Sima."
Li Qian was even more interested: "Is it possible that Uncle Zong is very aware of their affairs? You might as well tell me about it."
Wang Mang shook his head slightly: "I was not working in the Ministry of Rites at that time, so I only knew a little bit about their affairs."
"It is said that Cai Bian and Sima Shilang had a good relationship at first, but they parted ways because of one person."
Mentioning this person, Wang Mang also showed some dissatisfaction on his face: "This person is Wang Anshi, a veteran of the late emperor's time. He is Cai Bian's father-in-law."