Chapter 282: Politicization of technical issues (Part 1)
The politics of the Ming Dynasty were actually official document politics. After the cabinet system was formed, the central government's memorial operation process should theoretically be as follows.
In the first step, the Clerk's Office of the Supervisor of Ceremonies collected the memorials on behalf of the emperor at Huiji Gate (formerly called Zuoshun Gate), and then submitted the memorials to the emperor for inspection.
The second step is to wait for the emperor to read the memorial and send it to the cabinet, which will vote on it.
The third step is to submit the vote to the emperor. If the emperor has no objection, the ceremonial supervisor will approve it and then send it back to the cabinet to draft a formal edict.
But this process was so cumbersome and troublesome that the emperor himself became impatient, so he gradually simplified it.
In actual practice today, after the memorial office of the Supervisor of Ceremonies receives the memorial, if there are no special circumstances, it will be handed over directly to the cabinet. The cabinet will draft it first, and then submit the memorial together with the memorial to the emperor.
On the afternoon of April 12, the day after the second martial arts test ended, Lin Daguan went around the house and smashed several doors. However, he also paid money on the spot and frantically tested the boundaries of the law.
On April 13th, Chief Assistant Shen Shixing came to work in Wenyuan Pavilion. As soon as he sat down in the room, he saw Wang An, the young eunuch in the clerk's room, bringing a memorial.
The memorials are neatly classified, for example, those from border towns are in one pile, those from the Metropolitan Procuratorate are in another pile, etc.
In view of the recent situation, Shen Shoufu first read the memorials from the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
He counted silently in his mind. A few days ago, there were only four memorials criticizing Wang Zhiyuan, but today the number increased to eight.
Looking more closely at the content, most of them impeached Wang Zhiyuan and Lin Tailai together. The wording was nothing more than collaborating and colluding, and accusing Wang Zhiyuan of shielding Lin Tailai.
There were also those who said that Lin Tailai's moral character was lacking and that he was not suitable for the military examination and should be expelled from the martial arts examination. Others who were more knowledgeable actually exposed Lin Tailai for causing harm to the place under the protection of the Wang family.
After reading it, Shen Shoufu sighed deeply.
If the Wang family is the one who protects Lin Tailai and harms the place, then where is the Shen family?
Next to him, a confidant named Li from Zhongshushe asked: "Why is Mr. Ge sighing?"
Shen Shoufu pointed to the memorial and said: "Today so many people are impeaching Lin Tailai, but no one is taking me along.
Just ten days ago, they said that I wantonly allowed Lin Tailai, a retainer, to commit lawlessness."
Li Sheren is speechless, Shen Shoufu, why do you sound so disappointed?
Others are not stupid, their main purpose is to dismantle Wang Zhiyuan. Before the chief minister makes his position clear, who is willing to provoke the chief minister?
The so-called vote drafting generally means that the cabinet drafts handling opinions on behalf of the emperor.
Shen Shoufu's opinion on these eight memorials was as follows: "The Procuratorate of the Capital will conduct a detailed investigation of the memorials and appoint a censor to inspect the martial arts examination venue."
Li Sheren was shocked when he saw this result. Did Lin Tailai betray the Shen family and Shen Shoufu wanted to clean up the family?
In the system of the Ming Dynasty, reporting to an official for impeachment was regarded as a rumor, but an investigation by the Metropolitan Procuratorate was regarded as starting a "judicial process."
But this storm of criticism was originally controlled by Zuodu Yushi Xin Zixiu, and if it was sent back to the Metropolitan Procuratorate for processing, the result is self-evident.
This situation is a bit like "who in the hall is suing me for what reason".
Eight copies of bullets were pressed, and just after noon, Wang Zhiyuan, the left servant of the Ministry of Revenue, came home from get off work early and closed the door again to thank the guests.
Wang Zhiyou and Wang Xiangmeng are not at home, and Lin Tailai is not at home either.
Wang Shao Situ could only ask the fifteenth sister: "Where is Lin Tai?"
Wang Fifteen replied: "I should go to the Zheng Mansion, the capital commander."
The so-called Commander-in-Chief Zheng’s Mansion is the residence of Zheng Guifei’s father Zheng Chengxian. Zheng Guotai, who participated in the martial arts test as his son, of course also lived here.
Wang Zhiyuan was stunned for a long time, but he couldn't understand why Lin Tai came to Zheng Mansion.
Wang Shiwu added: "I heard from Mr. Lin that he is going to find Zheng Guotai to use martial arts to make friends and win a duel."
Wang Zhiyuan: "."
The word duel sounds childish. It sounds like a fight between two children. Is the martial arts competition just child's play in your eyes, Lin Tailai?
After coming back to his senses, Wang Shao Situ said to Wang Shiwu: "Actually, although the life of the Gao family may be a bit dull, Lin Tailai's behavior is too erratic."
Wang Shiwu advised: "Brother, don't worry. The more noise Mr. Lin makes, the more stable you will be in the martial arts test, and the less likely the examiner will make mistakes."
Therefore, all Lin Jun’s actions are to suppress the bonus brought by his status as a relative of Emperor Zheng Guotai.”
Wang Zhiyuan said a little angrily: "Have you forgotten? Our focus is to fight for the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, not to defeat the martial arts test!"
Wang Shiwu said with a smile: "Didn't Mr. Lin say that the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is just a matter of picking up grass and hunting rabbits?"
Standing outside the gate of Zheng's Mansion, the commanding officer of the Imperial Guards Bureau, Lin Daguan stood with his hands behind his hands and led about a dozen men to block the outside of the gate tightly.
Lin Daguanren's recent behavior in the capital has been vaguely showing signs of his sect's nemesis, and various sects have always become victims of Lin Daguanren's demonstrations.
Therefore, the gatekeepers of the Zheng Mansion did not even dare to open the small door completely, leaving only a crack in the door open to talk to Mr. Lin outside.
"Please come out and speak, Mr. Cathay Pacific!" Lin Tailai shouted to the doorman.
Menzi replied: "My uncle is quietly preparing for the martial arts test and will not see any guests!"
"Bah!" Lin Daguan said loudly: "You, the Zheng family, are relatives of the emperor, and we receive preferential treatment everywhere.
Now, he has resorted to off-site tactics again and instigated a group of officials to criticize me! What kind of hero can you be if you dare to do something but not act accordingly?"
For some unknown reason, the Zheng family behaved very low-key and only let their disciples pass the news: "The Zheng family has nothing to do with this matter!"
Lin Daguan continued: "In the previous martial arts test, Zheng Guotai and I were both top-ranked. If nothing happens, the number one in the final martial arts test will be between the two of us!"
Just talk but not practice fake moves, just practice without talking about silly moves, practice and talk about real moves at the same time.
I, Lin Tailai, have no other abilities, so I invite Zheng Guotai to come out and have a fair fight face to face!"
The disciple then replied: "The day after tomorrow is the third exam. We will see the real results in the exam room and we will not accept private fights!"
Lin Tailai laughed a few times and said, "The third session tomorrow will be the sword and gun weapon event. Candidates will use swords and guns, and the evaluation will be entirely manual.
I, Lin Tailai, am just a commoner with a small background. How can I compare to relatives of the emperor in the artificial evaluation items?
You, the Zheng family, can use off-site tactics like this to criticize me, so why don't you try to manipulate the evaluation?
When the time comes, give Zheng Guotai a good rating and me a middling or low rating, where should I go to find fairness?"
Even though Lin Tailai blocked the door and shouted, even though Lin Tailai seemed to be justified, no one from the Zheng family came out, leaving Senior Officer Lin helpless.
But Official Lin was not idle either, and went to the door of Censor Fang Wanshan's house again. After all, this was the enemy's "vanguard general" and he needed to take more care of him.
It's just that the door that was smashed by Lin Daguan yesterday was not repaired at all, leaving the Fang family open and completely undefended.
Then there were several gray-haired old men squatting under the screen wall, looking at Mr. Lin through the doorway without a door panel.
This made Lin Daguan a little worried. How could he be humiliated like yesterday without having to rush through the door?
After thinking about it again and again, I finally got a lot of ink and wrote a big-character poster directly on the outer wall: Yushi Yanguan, colluding with the emperor's relatives!
The next day, April 14, Xin Zixiu, the censor of Zuodu, arrived at the government office and heard about Lin Tailai's behavior yesterday.
But he didn't take it seriously. This was all expected. He had already guessed that Lin Tailai would definitely tie the Zheng family to those officials.
Then he received a decree to ask the Metropolitan Procuratorate to investigate Lin Tailai, and to appoint a censor to inspect the martial arts examination venue.
This surprised Mr. Xin because the feedback came so quickly.
A batch of memorials were sent to the palace yesterday, and the decree was conveyed today. This efficiency is really unlike that of the Ming Dynasty.
Based on Xin Zongxian's experience, he must have drawn up the votes for the first and second ministers quickly, and then the emperor easily transferred them back without any further opinions, and the cabinet quickly issued them.
But isn't Lin Tailai Shen Shoufu's disciple?
Perhaps the young and frivolous Lin Tailai left the Shen family and joined the Wang family for the sake of women, which caused dissatisfaction with Shen Shoufu?
If that's the case, it's good news.
Immediately, Xin Zongxian handed over the task of inspecting the examination room to Fang Wanshan, the senior censor.
It was originally an issue reported by Fang Yushi, and he was then responsible for further investigation. Is this normal?
Another day passed, on April 15th, the third martial arts examination of the 14th year of Wanli was held as scheduled.
The first game is policy discussion, the second game is bow and arrow or physical strength, and the third game today is sword, gun and weapon events.
Of course, this is definitely not the "big fight" that Mr. Lin is most looking forward to. Candidates can only perform martial arts in a disciplined manner, and then be graded by the examiner on the podium.
This scene sounds a bit like a martial arts competition in later generations.
The candidates who came to participate in the third round today all know that they will definitely miss the chance to be ranked first in the martial arts test. All they can strive for is the martial arts qualification.
After all, there were two rare top performers in the last exam, and the first place in the martial arts test must come from these two people.
The designated weapon in today's game is a knife or a gun, which are also the two most common standard weapons in the military.
Lin Daguanren chose marksmanship. After all, he learned the "Tang Liuhe Gun" from Qi Shaobao for a few days. Although he has not had much actual combat experience, he can still do it with a few rounds on the field.
Even though time was limited at the beginning, Lin Daguan learned some tricks. From now on, he spent three days fishing and two days drying nets.
Therefore, in the eyes of experts, Lin Daguan's marksmanship is still mostly showy.
After his name was called, Lin Tailai went to the martial arts arena with a big gun and completed a set of shots smoothly.
Zheng Guotai, the biggest competitor, also stood on the edge of the field and carefully watched Lin Daguanren's marksmanship drill.
So Uncle Zheng was a little relieved. Lin Tailai's performance was obviously not top-notch.
As long as your performance score is higher, you can surpass Lin Tailai and become the first. This shouldn't be difficult.
Not long after, everyone heard Lin Tailai's rating. Among the four grades: upper, upper-middle, lower-middle, and lower, Lin Tailai got the upper-middle grade.