Based on the life span of people in this era, not many people can live to be over eighty years old. Therefore, it is rare for people like Wang Situ to encounter Ding You in their sixties. Most people encounter Ding You in their prime.
Lin Tailai was also caught off guard when he heard the news that Wang Situ's mother, who was over 80 years old, had passed away.
For Lin Tailai, the aspect that has the greatest impact is the Wang family's system of leaving and staying.
There are many officials in the Wang family, among them Wang Zhiyuan, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, Wang Zhiyou, the Honorable Minister of the Suzhou Prefecture, Wang Zhifu, a senior member of the Ministry of household affairs, and Wang Zhifu, who has passed the examination and is waiting to be elected to the capital.
Among them, Wang Situ, Wang Fuzun, and Wang Yuanwailang all need to observe the system, but Wang Zhi does not have the same parent, so he does not need to observe the system.
The other generations with the character character Xiang are the grandsons of the old lady. In terms of etiquette and law, if they are not grandsons, they do not need to abide by the rules.
Therefore, Wang Xiangqian, the governor of Xuanfu, and Wang Xiangmeng, a member of the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, can continue to serve.
But the resignation of two of the most critical figures, Wang Situ and Wang Fuzun, gave Lin Tailai a huge headache.
Wang Situ was not only one of the six tribes, but also the most important pillar of Lin Tailai's power in the court, a more reliable pillar than Zhao Zhigao and Wang Tianguan.
Without Wang Situ, Lin Tailai's strength at the ministry level instantly became weak. If Wang Tianguan was the only one, he would inevitably be alone.
Although Wang Zhiyou, the king of Suzhou, seems to have kept a low profile in recent years, his importance to Lin Tailai is second only to Wang Situ, and he is responsible for the important task of escorting Lin Tailai in his hometown in Suzhou.
In particular, the Suzhou Lin Group has been making big moves in recent years. Having a real person like Wang Fuzun in charge can save a lot of trouble.
If an outsider were to be the prefect, it would be more or less a layer away from him, so Lin Tailai might not be completely at ease.
No matter what he planned in his heart, he had to face reality. Lin Tailai slowly walked to Wang Situ's side.
Wang Situ had a very good relationship with his mother. After receiving the news of the death, his grief-stricken legs were unsteady and he could not walk. He was helped by servants and sat in the hall.
"My condolences." Lin Tailai said simply.
Wang Situ raised his head and shook his hand at Lin Tailai, and said a little apologetically: "I don't want to talk at this time. I'm going to leave for Shandong immediately. Jiuyuan, just take care of yourself first."
According to today's rules, the moment the minister receives the news of the funeral, he must report the funeral to the court as soon as possible, and then immediately stop working and prepare to return home. There must be no hesitation in this.
Lin Tailai nodded and said, "Brother, don't worry, I'm still here in Beijing."
When I walked to the gate, I met Wang Xiangmeng who was commanding the servants to start working.
"Sister-in-law, you have to hold on," Wang Xiangmeng said.
After spending two years in a core department such as the Literary and Selection Department of the Ministry of Personnel, Wang Xiangmeng became more and more sensitive to the trend of the court.
Now the chief minister is going crazy for Lin Tailai. As a result, the most important figure in Lin's party suddenly left, and the situation has deteriorated extremely.
Lin Tailai sighed deeply. The most important thing was that he was not prepared in advance. He felt that he had suffered a black swan event and suffered heavy losses.
The originally impregnable triangular lineup of Zhao Zhigao, Wang Tianguan, and Wang Situ suddenly faced the danger of collapse.
At this time, Lin Tailai finally understood why Shen Shoufu liked to appoint the old man so much.
Although the old man's death is highly likely, it is relatively predictable. As long as he sees that this person is seriously ill, he can start planning his funeral.
Unlike Ding You, news coming from his hometown is always very sudden, making it impossible to prepare for it in advance.
What many ministers fear most is that Ding You will suddenly resign at an inappropriate time.
After leaving Wang's house, Lin Tailai, who went to work, went directly to the Ministry of Personnel.
Outsiders may not know it yet, but close people like the guardians around me have discovered the pattern.
Normally when there is nothing important, Lin Ziguan will most likely go to the Hanlin Academy to talk nonsense after going out in the morning.
Once tensions arise, Lin is most likely to go to the Ministry of Personnel first.
There was no way, Lin Tailai always had to communicate with Wang Tianguan about personnel issues first, hoping to try his best to make up for the huge loss of losing the Minister of Household Affairs and the Prefect of Suzhou.
Wang Tianguan was sitting in the court. When he saw Lin Tai coming, he said with a sad face: "The situation is not good."
Lin Tailai was also worried and said with deep sympathy: "The situation is very bad. Who would have thought that Da Situ would suddenly be worried."
Wang Tianguan was very surprised and said: "Is there Ding You? Has Wang Situ received the funeral report?"
"You don't know yet? I just received it this morning." Lin Tailai replied.
Wang Tianguan looked sad again, "Then the situation will be even worse."
Lin Tailai noticed the word "more" very sensitively, "Is there any other bad news?"
Wang Tianguan replied: "The decree came from the inner court, and Zhou Cai, the Minister of Dali Temple, was promoted to the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and the governor of the longevity palace was built."
People who are not in the officialdom may not understand the connotation. They simply understand that Shen Shoufu can continue to show off his muscles.
The title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry is not one of the Seven Ministers, sitting in the palace and in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, but a title similar to the title of Minister of the Ministry of War of the Governor, and the title of the Governor's Censor, which is a virtual title that symbolizes rank and status.
Therefore, this does not require court approval, and since the dispatch is the emperor's own longevity palace affairs, it is reasonable for the emperor to issue the order directly.
But beyond being reasonable, there must be something strange. Zhou Cai’s appointment was obviously made by the chief assistant.
First, the official title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry is still vacant, but the first assistant has found another person with the title of Minister of the Ministry of Processing. This implication is self-evident.
You don't have to be a blind person to see that the first assistant is willing to support Zhou Cai to become the minister of the Ministry of Labor at all costs.
Second, Supervisor Shougong was originally the errand of Zeng Tongheng, the left minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Zeng Tongheng was nominated as Minister of the Ministry of Industry with the support of the Qingliu forces.
This time, Zhou Cai was given the title of Minister of the Ministry of Industry and the governor of the Shougong Palace, which was tantamount to directly taking away Zeng Tongheng's most important mission.
Even through the many palace walls, Lin Tailai seemed to be able to hear the sound of Shen Shoufu slapping the Qingliu Party members in the face.
In terms of system, the chief minister and the cabinet cannot interfere in personnel selection and have no right to participate in nominations, but they can use off-site factors to exert influence. It all depends on their respective abilities.
Lin Tailai couldn't help but feel envious and said with emotion: "The chief assistant has so many resources at his disposal, the faces of the Qingliu Party members were all swollen this time.
Now that Dali Temple Minister Zhou Cai has gone to the Governor's Longevity Palace, the official position of Dali Temple Minister is also vacant, and it's up to us to run the staff again."
The Minister of Dali Temple is not an ordinary temple minister, but the most important official position under the Six Ministries of the Metropolitan Inspectorate. Together with the Six Ministries, the Metropolitan Inspectorate and the General Affairs Department, they are collectively called the Dajiuqing.
Wang Tianguan's eyes suddenly flashed with a trace of pity, "The right minister Wang Yongji just came to me and said that he wanted to nominate the young minister of Taichang Temple. The admiral Qi Shichen of Siyi Palace was promoted to the minister of Dali Temple. At the same time, he also nominated the minister of Honglu Temple. Why should he be promoted to the minister of Dali Temple?
Lord Taipusi!"
Lin Tailai was stunned, this was all directed at him? It was not just the Qingliu Party members who were beaten?
Qi Shichen, nicknamed Qi Baoshan, was an old accomplice of Shen Shoufu. He had sent a message through Zhao Zhigao a few days ago, revealing his intention to defect to him.
He has been nominated as Minister of Dali Temple before he has even taken the test? Whose will does this nomination represent, the Right Minister Wang Yongji?
Also, I had previously promised Zhao Qing, the young minister of Taipu Temple, and after getting the black information to depose Aimu, the chief minister of Taipus Temple, I would help promote Zhao Qing to the chief minister of Taipus Temple.
Now that Wang Yongji nominated the minister of Honglu Temple, why was he promoted to minister of Taipus Temple? What about Qing Zhao, whom he supported?
The other thing is, why did Shang contradict himself to death just two days ago because of the location issue of the Communications Department?
In the blink of an eye, He Yishang was nominated for promotion, and even snatched away the minister of Taipusi who was planning for him. Who was he doing this on purpose?
Wang Tianguan said with some admiration: "So the first assistant is not fighting the Qingliu forces, but the Qingliu forces are fighting with you."
Lin Tailai rarely encountered such an out-of-control headwind situation and said angrily:
"This traitor Wang Yongji, as an official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs, has lost his spirit of independence and is willing to obey the instructions of the cabinet!
I heard that he respects Hai Rui the most, which is simply an embarrassment to Hai Qingtian!"
Wang Tianguan has been working in Nanjing for many years, and he is relatively clear about some things in Nanjing's officialdom, so he explained a few words.
"He Yishang was a friend of Hai Rui who was imprisoned together, and Wang Yongji did admire Hai Rui when he was in Nanjing. I guess there must be a friendship between Wang Yongji and He Yishang.
Therefore, if the chief assistant made promotion conditional on He Shang, then it is understandable that Wang Yongji helped the chief assistant nominate Qi Baoshan to be promoted to minister of Dali Temple.
Promoting He Yishang to the position of Taipusi Qing can not only suppress you, but also drive Wang Yongji. It really kills two birds with one stone.
The operating techniques and understanding of people's hearts are extremely delicate."
Seeing Lin Tailai's face getting more and more ugly, Wang Tianguan quickly turned around and said: "With the authority of the chief and assistant, most of the time, you don't need to be so delicate in doing things.
But you, Lin Jiuyuan, can make Shen Shoufu use the most delicate techniques, which also shows your strength!"
Lin Tailai was no longer in the mood to show off, and asked again: "Now that the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue is also vacant, do you have any ideas?"
Wang Tianguan frowned deeply, "Now we are missing the Minister of Household Affairs, the Minister of Industry, and the Minister of Dali Temple, three top ministers at the Jiuqing level, and at the same time, we are short of the Minister of Taipu Temple. It is very difficult to handle."
Lin Tailai also believed that if there was only one position missing, he might be able to concentrate all his resources and attack with all his strength.
But at the same time, there are so many positions missing, and each position has many variables, so the chaos factor in operation increases exponentially.
This is a great test of the thickness of the resources in hand and the scheduling ability.
However, Lin Tailai's weakest link is his background. He does not have mature enough disciples, and he does not have people of the same age who have already entered the middle and upper levels.
He doesn't have many high-ranking officials of around the third grade available, and he may not even be able to assemble reliable candidates.
This is also the big problem Lin Tailai is currently facing. He cannot choose a candidate even if he wants to compete in the ring.
You can't be so naive as to think that just because Shi Xing, the left minister of the Ministry of War, actively organized a literary conference, and Zhong Zhenji, the right minister of the Ministry of Industry, expressed his friendship through Dong Qichang, do you think that they are reliable?
To be honest, Lin Tailai didn't even dare to vouch for Wang Tianguan's reliability in the headwind situation.
After all, Wang Tianguan's poor performance when he faced headwinds several times at literary conferences left a deep impression on Lin Tailai.
Just as Lin Tailai thought about the Literary Forum, he heard Wang Tianguan also talking about the Literary Forum:
"Shi Xing, the left minister of the Ministry of War, asked me if this literary conference should be postponed?"
"Why the delay?" Lin Tailai asked.
Wang Tianguan felt that Lin Tailai was asking questions knowingly, but he reminded him: "The situation is so unclear now. Many people attending the meeting will inevitably make small calculations in their minds. If the scene is too ugly, it is better not to do anything."
What Wang Tianguan means is that many people who wanted to attend the meeting came because of you, Lin Jiuyuan.
If your strength, Lin Jiuyuan, declines, I'm afraid many people who are scheduled to attend the conference will not be willing to come.
No matter when, there will never be a shortage of people who actively follow the trend and seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
Lin Tailai said without doubt: "The Literary Forum will be held as scheduled according to the scheduled date!
As the saying goes, the strong wind knows the strong grass. Under normal conditions, it is difficult to detect people's hearts.
I want to see who are the people who booked to attend but didn’t come!”
Wang Tianguan looked a little unnatural and said: "Otherwise, Jiuyuan, you can go to Shen Shoufu to convince you?
Shen Shoufu will definitely not kill you to death, as long as you kneel down quickly, everything will be fine."
Lin Tailai was speechless. Just now he was still thinking that Wang Tianguan's character was not suitable for the headwind situation and he did not have that kind of tenacity.
In the end, within a few words, Wang Tianguan's weakness was exposed.
"Are you scared?" Lin Tailai asked back.
Wang Tianguan was indeed a little frightened by the chief assistant. The chief assistant's strong interference in personnel affairs reminded him of the repeated cabinet disputes.
Whenever the cabinet attempts to directly intervene in the affairs of foreign countries, the Ministry of Personnel must represent the foreign countries and resist the cabinet's intrusion.
But Wang Tianguan felt that he couldn't defeat Shen Shoufu with full firepower.
Shen, the first assistant, has been in the cabinet for twenty years and has been the chief assistant for nearly eight years. He has only been in Beijing for one year. What kind of background can he bring?
Originally, the tall Lin Tailai was blocking the front, but now Lin Tailai and the Qingliu forces were beaten by the chief assistant, and Lin Tailai's relatives and friends, the Minister of the Ministry of Finance, were also gone.
Lin Tailai, who had already lost the Minister of Hubu, could not bear to lose the Minister of Libu again, so he did not dare to scold Wang Tianguan, who was full of petty bourgeois weakness, and could only coax and explain:
"Don't worry, I haven't fallen down. As long as I'm still there, you can be safe!"
Even if we sue for peace, we must show our strength first, otherwise, how can we sue for peace?"
Wang Tianguan was in a daze, feeling that he was so respected by Lin Tailai for the first time in his life.
Does this mean that Lin Tailai is really weak?
Lin Tailai tried his best to cheer him up and said: "Besides, this is not just the chief minister's overreach of power, but a cabinet dispute. We all support Laozhong to kill you!"
Besides, the cabinet dispute is a very sensitive issue, and Chief Shen doesn’t dare to go too far after all!”
Wang Tianguan was speechless again. It was obviously you and the Qingliu Party members who were beaten by the angry chief assistant. How could it become a cabinet dispute?
All I can say is that you, Lin Tailai, know how to find entries.
The topic of Wang Situ and Ding You became a hot topic in the official circles of the capital within one day.
Not only because Wang Situ's position as Minister of Household Affairs is extremely important, but also because of the special relationship between Wang Situ and Lin Tailai.
Lin Tailai's rapid rise is not only due to his own quality, but also due to external conditions.
First, his early marriage to the Wang family gave Lin Tailai Wang Situ, the most stable cornerstone of his background.
No matter how others treat Lin Tailai, they must take the Minister of Hubu into account.
Second, because of Shen Shoufu's complete protection and connivance, Lin Tailai can amplify his own strength tenfold.
With this top-level protective umbrella, Lin Tailai can often be in an invincible position and can do things freely.
But now these two reasons have failed, and most of Lin Tailai's road to success has disappeared in an instant.
Some people have concluded based on this that without the cornerstone of the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue and the complete protection from the chief minister, Lin Tailai in the 19th year of Wanli would have regressed by five years and degenerated into Lin Tailai in the 14th year of Wanli.
As for whether Lin Tailai in the Wanli 14th year version is strong or not, it can only be said that people have different opinions.