This time the imperial meeting happened very suddenly. After Lin Tailai's letter was read out, the entire situation changed completely!
Before Xin Zongxian and Fang Wanshan could react, they were already defeated.
This scene gave other ministers a sense of familiarity.
Just about a month ago, the Tianshou Mountain Palace was in a similar situation!
At that time, Shen Shoufu and the still popular Li Zhi were at loggerheads, and the emperor himself was hesitant.
After Li Rusong's memorial sent from hundreds of miles away was read out, no one reacted at all, and the situation also changed suddenly!
The key is that Li Rusong also mentioned Lin Tailai in his memorial and quoted Lin Tailai's remarks.
Before the ministers could figure it out, Emperor Wanli took the lead in regaining his indifference, and without consulting others, he directly issued an order:
"Censor Fang Wanshan, under the guise of serving the imperial edict, colluded with the royal family, manipulated examinations, corrupted discipline, and was immediately dismissed from his post and reduced his status to the people!"
Everyone knew that the emperor wanted to kill the chicken and scare the monkey, because just now Yushi Fang strongly opposed the special canonization of the Zheng family.
In other words, Fang Yushi was punished by the emperor for colluding with the Zheng family because he opposed the emperor's reward for the Zheng family.
It sounds ridiculous, but it happens, and that's politics.
If it were normal circumstances, and the emperor severely punished a certain speech official who committed a crime, there would definitely be another group of speech officials holding high the banner of "unimpeded speech", rushing to remonstrate, plead for mercy, and slap the imperial staff.
But today, no one came out to speak for Fang Yushi, because the emperor punished Fang Wanshan for "colluding with the imperial relatives."
Anyone who helps Fang Yushi agrees with "colluding with the imperial family", and even Qingliu colleagues dare not come forward.
Especially since this royal relative belongs to the already very sensitive Zheng family, no civil servant dares to bear the reputation of colluding with the Zheng family at this time.
In the end, only Fang Yushi had to bear all the pain, without any comrades to share it with.
Emperor Wanli was in a strange mood. This was a completely new experience. It was the first time that he could remain so calm after severely punishing Yan Guan who contradicted him.
"Xin made a mistake during his self-study, and he will be fined for one year! He will be demoted and retained!" Emperor Wanli said again, but no one stood up to object.
Emperor Wanli felt happy again, and was thinking about whether to take advantage of the opportunity to recruit a few more people. Shen Shoufu quickly reminded: "Your Majesty will allow Fang Wanshan to express his gratitude first."
Thunder, rain and dew are all your kindness, even if you are punished, it is still a kindness.
After Fang Yushi thanked him for his kindness, he became a commoner in status and lost all political treatment. He left the Wenhua Palace in despair.
When he criticized Lin Tailai and Wang Shao Situ just now, no one came forward to speak for Lin Tailai.
He once thought that he was done and was only one step away from sending Lin Tailai to prison.
As a result, a shallow and naive petition completely changed the emperor's mind.
The ministers looked at Fang Wanshan's back. They could all see that Fang Wanshan wanted to use the Zheng family to induce the emperor's mood of "helping relatives but not helping others", punish Lin Tailai severely and implicate Wang Zhiyuan.
In the end, Fang Wanshan was backlashed, or he was said to be playing with fire and burning himself.
If Fang Yushi did not take advantage of Zheng Guotai at the beginning, but simply opposed the emperor's reward for the Zheng family, the emperor might not be so angry.
However, Fang Yushi first promoted Zheng Guotai for profit, and then he set up a memorial arch to vehemently oppose the award to the Zheng family. This behavior completely angered the emperor, and even Qingliu colleagues could not help him to speak to save him.
All the ministers once again felt as if there was a pair of invisible hands hanging over the Wenhua Palace, manipulating today's situation and driving Fang Yushi to a dead end.
But this feeling is vague, relying entirely on experience and intuition, and there is no clear idea.
Chief Assistant Shen Shixing, who had been keeping his head down to control his emotions, raised his head at this time. He was probably the most knowledgeable person in the palace about the current situation.
After all, among all the ministers, Shen Shoufu was the one who had the most dealings with the emperor, and he was also the one who knew Lin Tailai best.
But even he, the first assistant, just thought that Lin Tailai's complaint was deliberately funny, but unexpectedly, murderous intent suddenly came.
Just like how I dealt with Li Zhi last time, a few inadvertent words at the critical moment completely destroyed Li Zhi.
Looking back carefully, Lin Tailai's petition seemed to have a magical power, tempting the emperor to move step by step in the designated direction.
The more Lin Tailai yelled, "Your Majesty, please don't confer the title of Zheng Guotai without any principle." The more the emperor thought about it, what happened to the conferment?
Shen Shoufu understood very well how serious the rebellious psychology of Emperor Wanli was.
And just now everyone was laughing at the pleading that it was too rustic, but now thinking about it, the childish tone of the low-level peasants in the pleading has actually become a kind of protective color.
How could the emperor, who ruled the world and ruled over the world, care about a naive little farmer? He was just careless about the interests of his own one-third of an acre of land. In fact, he had no evil intentions.
When there was silence in the palace, Yang Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, who was over seventy years old, seemed to have just woken up and said: "Previously, the imperial edict was issued to recommend the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, and the Ministry of Personnel nominated Song Hu and Wang Zhiyuan."
Everyone was speechless. You, the Heavenly Official, are quite good at seizing the opportunity.
The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel ranks first in the outer dynasty. If something is to be done, the Heavenly Official of the Ministry of Personnel should be the first.
But just now you, the old heavenly official, was dozing on the side and said nothing from the beginning to the end. Now you jump out and start making trouble?
Emperor Wanli suddenly heard about this and asked casually: "Who does the court recommend?"
Yang Wei reported seriously: "Wang Zhiyuan was impeached by eighteen memorials, two of which were written by Fang Wanshan."
"What about Song Qi?" Emperor Wanli frowned and asked again when he heard Fang Wanshan's name.
Yang Wei replied: "I don't know why, but no one in the entire dynasty impeached Song Hui. I am also surprised by this. Maybe it is because of public expectations."
Emperor Wanli, who was still in a rebellious mood, sneered: "It's so popular."
Then he said without any doubt: "Promote Wang Zhiyuan to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs! Draft an imperial edict from the cabinet!"
In addition to Fang Wanshan, there are still some people from the Qingliu forces in the palace, but at this time they no longer dare to fight for the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance.
Even their most powerful weapon, moral kidnapping, has been lost by this time.
Shen Shixing hurriedly represented the cabinet and went out to receive the order. His heart was in turmoil again.
Lin Tailai once said that when taking part in the martial arts test, you can hunt rabbits and get a minister of household affairs.
At that time, due to various considerations, I did not want to participate in the fight for the Minister of Household Affairs, and I did not think Lin Tailai had the ability to intervene in such a matter.
After all, this is the top level of the game. How can you, Lin Tailai, get on the table and participate in the game if you don’t even have a place to start?
Unexpectedly, Lin Tai did what he said and simply brought the Minister of the Ministry of Finance over.
There are many people who blow their pussy, but there are only a handful of people who can always achieve it after blowing their pussy.
Emperor Wanli asked again: "Let's not talk about other trivial matters. The Zheng family was conferred the title of imperial concubine, and the Zheng family was promoted to governor and magistrate. What do you think?"
This time Emperor Wanli asked "What do you think?" rather than "Is it possible?" This showed that he had already made up his mind.
Still, several people stood up and objected: "Please, Your Majesty, first canonize the biological mother of the eldest son of the emperor, and the family of the biological mother of the eldest son of the emperor!"
Anyway, no one stood up to support them. They all knew that the emperor's award to the Zheng family and the Zheng family was just to pave the way for the establishment of the emperor's third son as the prince. This is a major matter of ethics and cannot be compromised easily.
Emperor Wanli looked at his chief minister and asked by name: "Mr. Shen, what do you think?"
Shen Shixing suddenly had a flash of inspiration and replied: "Although Lin Tailai is called a guest of the minister's family, he is actually regarded as a junior.
Lin Tailai and Zheng Guotai are now at odds with each other. When it comes to the Zheng family's affairs, I feel that I should avoid suspicion and not express my stance."
This answer is full of deception, but what the chief assistant needs now is deception.
In the Ming Dynasty political game, the cabinet is the buffer zone between the emperor and ministers.
In this sharp confrontation, what the chief minister fears most is that he doesn't even have a reason to fool around.
Emperor Wanli snorted dissatisfiedly, but there was nothing he could do. It was good that his chief minister did not contradict him directly.
If the chief minister is really forced to disobey the wishes of the courtiers and publicly support the emperor in violating etiquette, the result will definitely be that the chief minister asks to resign and quits his job.
Now Emperor Wanli is quite satisfied with Shen Shixing and does not want to force Shen Shixing to leave.
Seeing that he couldn't get the answer he wanted today, Emperor Wanli was not interested in saying anything else, so he stood up and left.
Shen Shixing sighed secretly, thinking that he had passed this test today.
Lin Tailai once said: "It is not that I am willful, but that you are willful for the sake of Prime Minister Shen. When Prime Minister Shen understands what benevolence and righteousness is, he will come back and be willful with me."
Because when I criticized Lin Tailai for deliberately targeting Zheng Guotai, he was too willful.
Now Shen Shixing finally understood what Lin Tailai meant by that sentence.
To put it simply, if you make enemies with the Zheng family first, then you will have an excuse not to support the Zheng family on issues of national origin and etiquette.
Compared with those ministers who were stubborn and opposed to the Zheng family, at least they had one more reason.
So I would also like to thank Lin Tailai for deliberately turning against Zheng Guotai and giving him an excuse to fool the emperor.
Could it be that when Lin Tailai heard that Zheng Guotai was going to take part in the martial arts test, he had calculated this step?
The emperor has left, and this court meeting has also ended. But everyone knows that the emperor is likely to make trouble on national issues, and today is just the beginning.
Someone asked Zhang Dasima of the Ministry of War: "Is Lin Tai the one who ranks first in the martial arts test?"
Zhang Dashima asked rhetorically: "Could it still be Zheng Guotai?"
The man asked again: "If Jinke wants to increase the palace examination, will there be another martial arts champion in the end?"
Zhang Dashima said with a pun: "God knows."
The ministers were discussing in small groups, and they felt that none of the people who went to the palace today were well-placed. If you think about it carefully, you will find that the biggest beneficiaries are not in the Wenhua Palace.
For example, Wang Zhiyuan, the left minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who has been impeached eighteen times recently, today is another day to thank guests behind closed doors. In the afternoon, he sat by the pond and drank tea under the willow tree.
Suddenly, I saw Wang Zhiyou, a member of the etiquette department, rushing towards me from the Moon Gate. His turban and hat were askew and he didn't bother to straighten them. He showed no manners at all.
Wang Zhiyuan said angrily: "What's wrong? Did the Jin Yiwei come to ransack the house? Or was someone in our family sent to the army? Or was Lin Tailai's enemies knocking on the door?"
"The Minister of the Ministry of Finance!" Wang Zhiyou panted and shouted out four words first, and then added: "The Emperor has decreed that you should be promoted to the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, and from now on you will be Wang Situ!"
This is the first member of the Wang family in Xincheng, Shandong Province to reach the level of Qiqing and become one of the ten or so core members of the imperial court.
After Wang Zhiyuan was stunned for a moment, he said subconsciously: "I don't seem to have done anything."
This is not because he is humble, but because he is sincere.
Wang Zhiyou corrected: "No, you said two words of the line - don't even think about it!"
Wang Zhiyuan didn't know how to express his joy, so he stood up and said, "I'll tell Lin Tailai personally."
It was almost afternoon, and Mr. Lin was still sleeping in the room.
Wang Zhiyuan patted the door of the room hard, and Officer Lin was woken up, and he yawned and opened the door.
Wang Zhiyuan asked with concern: "Are you sick? Why are you so sleepy?"
Lin Daguan replied: "I have been going out every day to beat people. Yesterday I was in the Metropolitan Procuratorate wielding gongans and fighting dozens of guards. It was very draining of my energy, so I am exhausted."
Wang Zhiyuan felt that his questions were unnecessary, so he added: "The emperor has already issued a decree to promote me to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs."
But Officer Lin yawned again and said a little disapprovingly:
"If Wang Situ had listened to me earlier, he would have been appointed as the Minister of Household Affairs last month. Why did he go through so much trouble to delay it until today?"
Wang Zhiyuan: "."
Maybe I came too much, and there was no way I could share the joy with such an inhumane god!
That night, the male and female masters of the Wang family sat together, closed the door, and held a family banquet to celebrate the transformation of Wang Shao Situ into Wang Situ.
This kind of internal celebration in advance cannot invite outsiders. I originally wanted to invite Lin Tailai, but Lin Tailai slipped out after he woke up, not knowing what he was doing.
Wang Zhiyou, the number one Lin Chui of the Wang family, sighed: "This Lin Tailai is really a banished immortal. I'm not just talking about his poetic talent."
Wang Xiangmeng said thoughtfully: "Are you talking about Wu Quxing?"
Wang Shiwu interjected: "You are exaggerating. Mr. Lin's methods are actually just like that. It's not surprising."
Wang Zhiyou joked: "Not surprising? You are the only fifteenth sister who dares to say this, or are you showing humility on behalf of Lin Tailai?"
Wang Shiwu explained: "The most powerful thing about Mr. Lin is that he can accurately guess the emperor's thoughts. This is the foundation for success.
As for other methods, compared to guessing the emperor's mind, they are just trivial and unremarkable."
Wang Situ, who was smiling, said: "I have just reviewed carefully and found out that all of Lin Tai's seemingly arrogant and mindless actions before he came were actually just deliberate attempts to show off his flaws.
The main purpose is to seduce the other party, making the other party mistakenly think that they have grasped the handle, found an opportunity, and decisively sided with Zheng Guotai."
Wang Shiwu also said: "Lin Jun told us before that Zheng Guotai who participated in the martial arts test was fake, just to reassure us.
In fact, Mr. Lin has not planned to expose the fake Zheng Guotai so far, he has deeper thoughts."
Wang Zhiyou asked: "Will Lin Tailai eventually expose Zheng Guotai's use of someone to take the exam?"
Wang Shiwu replied very definitely: "It depends on whether the Zheng family is honest or not, and whether it will hinder Mr. Lin from winning the martial arts championship.
Mr. Lin kept this handle and refused to use it even against Fang Yushi, just for the sake of the Zheng family."