The original intention of the Ming Dynasty's system design was to prevent powerful ministers, eunuchs, harems, and relatives at the same time. It is a typical combination of both.
Generally speaking, from the perspective of consolidating imperial power, this goal has been achieved.
However, the consequences of both wanting and wanting are often mild or severe. Among the above four types of people, the ones who are completely prevented from death in reality are the relatives.
Whether it is civil servants, powerful eunuchs, or even the queen mother in the harem, from time to time there will be one or two fish that slip through the net and shine in the politics of the Ming Dynasty. Only relatives have always been decorations.
After the system entered a stable period, the relatives of the Ming Dynasty were awarded the highest titles of marquis, governor, commander and so on by virtue of the emperor's favor.
But there is one thing. We must not give actual duties to our relatives. They cannot directly command the army. They can only be used as mascots.
Theoretically, Zheng Guotai can get actual positions in key places by taking advantage of the number one scholar and the martial arts system that favors the number one scholar.
But in the eyes of civil servants, as long as their imaginations can be loosened, this can be regarded as a disaster for foreign relatives, especially if it involves national issues and is a major ideological matter.
Furthermore, since it is an ideological issue, the Ministry of Rites, which is specifically responsible for ideological affairs, cannot pretend to be deaf and dumb.
Before the emperor was enthroned in the palace, the ministers were waiting outside the palace.
When Wang Xiangmeng spoke to Shen Li, the Minister of Rites, he did not deliberately lower his voice, and everyone around him could hear him.
Of course, this is also Wang Xiangmeng's purpose. Qingliu people flaunt their morality. No matter what they think in private, they will definitely care about public opinion, otherwise their character design will not stand up.
Shen Shixing glanced at Wang Situ and said thoughtfully: "Your nephew is also very powerful."
Wang Situ sighed: "Is this the spokesperson Shen Xiang said?"
Shen Shixing smiled and said: "No, the spokesperson is not your nephew, but Shen Libu."
Being squeezed into such a situation, as the leader of Qingliu, Shen Li could not help but fight against Zheng Guotai with all his life.
Not long after, the emperor went to the Wenhua Palace and summoned the ministers to pay an audience.
The officials of Honglu Temple began to guide the ministers to arrange their positions, and then walked up to the temple.
After shouting "Long Live the Mountain", Emperor Wanli said: "A few days ago, the Ministry of War announced the regulations for the martial arts palace examination, which includes two types: marking and competition.
After careful consideration, I decided to make the marking of examination papers the regulations for the palace examination.
On the day of the palace examination, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Rites presented the ink scrolls on the strategies of the twenty top candidates for the military examination. I personally read them and then went to the audience according to their rankings."
This is equivalent to holding the imperial examination of liberal arts examination and the conferment ceremony together, and only the top twenty are summoned.
It's really simple and hassle-free compared to liberal arts. Of course, the ministers have no objection to saving money and effort. Just mess around with the martial arts.
It's just that under the current situation, the emperor's choice is obviously based on the idea of "black box operation".
If the No. 1 scholar in martial arts is determined solely by marking exams, then whoever the emperor wants will be chosen?
Even if a candidate wrote 7,000 words, the emperor said that if you can't do it, you can't do it, and if you can, you can't do it.
Just as the ministers were pondering the emperor's thoughts, they heard Emperor Wanli say:
"Previously, Zheng Guotai, who was second in the martial arts examination, wrote that he was bedridden due to a sudden illness recently and would like to ask his father Zheng Chengxian to attend the palace examination ceremony on his behalf.
At the same time, Father Zheng can enjoy the glory of the roll call in the Golden Palace to show his filial piety."
The ministers were all puzzled by this and didn't quite understand why Zheng Guotai suddenly acted like this before the imperial examination.
Only people like Shen Shixing and Wang Situ who knew Zheng Guotai's examination could guess the meaning.
Regardless of whether Zheng Guotai is real or fake, as long as he appears directly in front of the emperor during the palace examination, it will be a definite and unforgivable crime of deceiving the emperor.
If Zheng Guotai did not appear at the palace examination and did not directly "offend" the emperor, there would be room for maneuver just like ordinary cheating.
This kind of thing is a joke in real life, but it is very useful in politics.
After listening to the emperor's words, the ministers did not express their opinions. They all looked at Shen Li, the Minister of Rites.
Under normal circumstances, only the first assistant has this kind of treatment.
Shen Shangshu pondered for a moment, and then he could only stand up and say: "I think that if Zheng Guotai is allowed to continue to participate in the palace examination, he will not be awarded an official based on his martial arts results."
Emperor Wanli was slightly surprised. He had not expected Shen Shangshu's angle.
He originally thought that the officials might object to the regulations of the palace examination, or to Zheng Guotai allowing his father to attend the palace examination instead, but he did not expect that someone would come in from the perspective of conferring officials.
Emperor Wanli asked in reply: "Why can't Zheng Guotai be appointed as an official with martial arts?"
Shen Shangshu replied: "To prevent the disaster caused by relatives interfering in politics!"
Emperor Wanli's mind didn't change for a while, why did his relatives get involved in politics?
Shen Shangshu further explained: "According to the custom, the first place in the martial arts field is given to the place of their choice, and they are awarded actual positions. This is the country's preferential treatment for the first person.
For example, if you are willing to work in the Beijing camp, you can work in the Beijing camp, and if you are willing to return to your hometown, you can work back to your hometown.
Suppose Zheng Guotai is selected as the number one scholar and asks to command the Imperial Guards and guard the palace gates. How will His Majesty face this?
If not, it will dampen the royal family's desire to serve and break the custom of preferential treatment of the top military scholar; if allowed, it will create hidden dangers of relatives interfering in politics. Can Your Majesty sleep peacefully in the palace?"
Emperor Wanli was shocked, could such an operation be possible?
Previously, he was just thinking about giving Zheng Guotai a top pick to strengthen the Zheng family's reputation.
As for more specific arrangements in the future, I haven't thought that much about it, and I didn't even realize that Zheng Guotai was appointed to guard the palace.
Therefore, Emperor Wanli did not expect that these civil servants would actually want to go in front of him.
On the issue of Zheng Guotai, these civil servants actually thought more carefully and in depth.
Shen Shangshu was still earnestly advising: "Your Majesty! Our ancestors established a method that does not require relatives to directly control the army. This is really a plan for a rainy day!
If Zheng Guotai is selected as the number one scholar, it will create a huge problem for the imperial court. I would like to ask Your Majesty to think again."
Emperor Wanli asked in displeasure: "Could it be that Zheng Guotai's martial arts test was directly canceled? Wouldn't the imperial examination become child's play!"
Shen Shangshu replied: "No matter what kind of examination, candidates who fail to take the exam due to illness will be deemed to have abandoned the exam.
And now that Zheng Guotai claimed to be ill before the imperial examination, it shows that he is also aware of the problem.
Therefore, Your Majesty should understand Zheng Guotai's painstaking efforts and regard Zheng Guotai's illness as abandoning the exam.
In this way, Your Majesty and the imperial court will not have to face difficulties, and at the same time, it will not harm the dignity of the emperor, and it is extremely appropriate for all parties involved."
Emperor Wanli: "."
If Zheng Guotai got sick, how could it be said by your civil servants that he would voluntarily abandon the exam?
Emperor Wanli was still young after all, and he was not particularly eloquent. Seeing that he could not speak to Shen Shangshu, he turned to his chief minister, Shen Shixing, and asked, "What do you think, the chief minister?"
Shen Shixingzou said: "Civil and military officials each have three origins. Among them, military officers have three origins: official, martial arts, and meritorious service.
Although Zheng Guotai himself did not have an official position, his father Zheng Chengxian was the commander of the capital with a salary. In the future, Zheng Guotai would not be able to use his favor to ascend the throne.
Therefore, Zheng Guotai has taken the path of becoming an official, and it is not appropriate to be awarded an official through martial arts."
As expected of the chief minister, this answer is very strategic and well-founded from the institutional level.
Emperor Wanli said dissatisfiedly: "Zheng Guotai himself does not have an official position. He should be compared with the military children who have not been able to establish a family and be taught based on their martial arts achievements."
Shen Shixing replied again: "The children of the remaining soldiers cannot inherit official positions and can only make a living on their own.
Could it be that Zheng Guotai has given up all grace and will not inherit his father's rank in the future?
Moreover, the awards and promotions are only based on the Ministry of War’s evaluation, and you cannot receive additional favors from the emperor?”
If Zheng Guotai was arranged by the Ministry of War of the civil service system, he would basically be stuck in a middle or low-level position in a certain corner forever, with no hope of promotion.
Emperor Wanli argued displeasedly and said: "There are many military attaches participating in the martial arts examination. According to what you said, since these military attaches are already officials, they are not qualified to participate in the martial arts examination?"
Shen Shixing said calmly: "If a military attaché takes part in martial arts and is passed, he will be upgraded on the basis of the original officer.
If His Majesty values the Zheng family, then he might as well directly upgrade the Zheng family to a higher level and allow Zheng Guotai to be hereditary as a reward."
Shen Shoufu knew very well that if the emperor bypassed the ministers and directly forcibly sealed Zheng Guotai, there would be no way to stop him.
So it is better to guide the emperor to give the Zheng family a false title that appears to be of high grade, but in fact it will not affect anything.
Emperor Wanli was silenced by the ministers and did not speak for a long time. If it came to being reasonable, he really could not convince these ministers.
The key is that no minister stood up to support the emperor, and no minister dared to speak for Zheng Guotai.
Even the first assistant, who is known for smoothing things over, did not directly object to Zheng Guotai being the number one pick, but he kept saying that Zheng Guotai was not suitable.
Emperor Wanli only felt trembling with anger. At this time, whether to seal Zheng Guotai or not was already a trivial matter. This collective attitude of resolutely opposing Zheng Guotai made the emperor feel very angry.
What they opposed was not Zheng Guotai, but the establishment of the emperor's third son as the Eastern Palace!
Going to court is really not interesting. Maybe you shouldn’t reason with ministers face to face. You should learn from your grandfather, Emperor Sejong, and hide in the palace to control everything!
Urgent, urged, urged, now that the writing is about to fail, the website will not give recommendations and is not exposed, the company is also forcing people to resign, and there are some people who are weird every day, it’s a damn thing if they are in good condition. Sometimes I just want to write plain and simple articles. , at least there are more readers for writing casually and without using any brain.
