The time has entered September of the 19th year of Wanli. The fourth day of the lunar month is the Wanshou Festival. As expected, there are no surprises. The emperor issued an order to exempt the emperor from court.
The ministers could only gather outside the Huangji Gate and give symbolic congratulations. They had no chance to talk to the emperor face to face about the matter of establishing the crown prince.
Then the new Minister of Rites, Luo Wanhua, and the new Minister of Dali Temple, Zhou, came to Beijing from the south to take office one after another, and the court was calm.
However, Wang Yi'ou, the chief minister of the Ministry of War, fell seriously ill again and was bedridden at home. He submitted several memorials to resign.
The court seemed to be calm, which made Lin Tailai feel that it shouldn't be.
In the Host and Guest Department of the Ministry of Rites, while Lin Tailai was busy extorting maps from the North Korean mission, he also mentioned to Shen Jue, who was in charge of the same year, that the court seemed to be too calm recently.
Shen Jue replied: "You have already said that you would take leave before October to go back to your hometown to visit relatives. You are probably waiting for you to leave Beijing before doing anything else."
Lin Tailai snorted coldly, "Then increase the intensity of spreading those rumors about me!"
The next day Lin Tailai went to inspect the construction site of the Communications Department, which is the eastern half of the original Honglu Temple.
Shi Ce, the young minister of Honglu Temple, was pestering Lin Tailai. He kept nagging and wanted to get back the occupied area.
"Without the approval of the imperial court, your construction work is illegal and prohibited."
Lin Tailai responded impatiently: "I looked at the floor plan given by the Ministry of Works, and the original area of your Honglu Temple is almost the same as that of the nearby Ministry of Rites!
Is this good? Is this reasonable? This is very bad and very unreasonable!
So I took half of the land from your Honglu Temple to help you correct the problem.
Not only are you not grateful to me, you are always obstructing the construction, and you haven’t gone through the land rights transfer procedures yet. What’s the point?”
Lin Tailai's words were so reasonable that Shi Shaoqing was almost speechless. After being stunned, he said with great indignation:
"It has been a month since He Siqing resigned, and the court has not appointed a new official!
The formalities cannot be completed without the signature of the chief minister. Can we blame Honglu Temple for this?"
Lin Tailai raised his eyelids and said calmly: "Then I will nominate you to be the chief minister of Honglu Temple today."
Shi Shaoqing nodded without changing his expression and said, "Okay, whatever orders Jiuyuan Lord has, we at Honglu Temple will do our best to cooperate."
Lin Tailai patted Shi Shaoqing on the shoulder and said encouragingly: "I heard that you are from Wuxi? Twenty years ago, you ranked second and second, which is the legendary fifth place?
But you are still only the young minister of Honglu Temple in the fifth rank, which shows that your life is really untainted, and you will continue to do so in the future!"
In the past few years, the middle-level officials were controlled by Chen Younian, Zhao Nanxing, and Gu Xiancheng.
If Gu Xiancheng, a young fellow from the same country, had adopted this policy, he would not still be holding the position of Shaoqing of Honglu Temple twenty years later.
In a few words, the Nine-Yuan True Immortal bought people's hearts and increased them by one.
At this time, Shen Yongmao suddenly ran over and said to Lin Tailai hurriedly: "Our Ministry of War, Wang Dasima, is seriously ill and can no longer take care of his duties. The emperor has approved Wang Dasima's resignation letter!"
Lin Tailai sighed and commented: "Wang Da Sima's character is still acceptable. What a pity."
So Lin Tailai stopped inspecting the Communications Department's construction site and told his left and right: "Hurry back to the staff department as quickly as possible!"
In fact, the construction site of the Communications Department is located behind the Household Department, and the Staff Department is next to the Household Department, just a few steps away.
This is the biggest advantage of working in the Southern District of Huangcheng. The major yamen are close to each other and can respond quickly when encountering problems. This is suitable for officials like Lin Tailai who have high requirements for mobility.
Shen Yongmao stopped Lin Tai again and said, "My father wants to meet you first."
Lin Tailai said seriously: "As a minister, you should put public affairs first before private affairs. I will go to the Ministry of Civil Affairs to finish the official affairs first, and then I will go to your mansion to visit your father in the evening."
Shen Yongmao: "."
Does putting public before private mean to be the first to pick the peaches? I learned, I learned.
Immediately, Lin Tailai quickly returned to the official department, went directly to Wang Tianguan and said:
"The Ministry of War is different from other ministries. There are many situations involving military aircraft that require emergency treatment, so the Minister of War is indispensable. It is recommended that a ministry meeting be held immediately to nominate a new Minister of War!"
Wang Tianguan had nothing to do, so he asked his servants to call people.
After all the officials from the Ministry of Civil Affairs had arrived, Lin Tai looked at the sun outside, and then he took the time to say: "As for the Secretary of the Army, there are roughly six qualified candidates."
As we all know, in the Ming Dynasty, there were many official positions with the title of Minister of the Ministry of War. The governor of each border town and the governor of Jingying could all hold the title of Minister of the Ministry of War.
"Benbing" is a special term in the officialdom of the capital, which refers to the minister who sits in charge of the Ministry of War headquarters and is different from a bunch of other ministers of the Ministry of War.
Lin Tailai added: "These six people are - Zheng Luo, the governor of the three sides of Shaanxi, Zhang Guoyan, the minister of Rongzheng, Jianda, the governor of Jiliao, Xiao Daheng, the governor of Xuanda, Shi Xing, the left minister of the Ministry of War, and Ye Mengxiong, the minister of the Ministry of Industry.
"
Hearing the words "Minister of Industry Ye Mengxiong", everyone suddenly felt that Ye Mengxiong was really lucky!
Not long after Ye Mengxiong came to Beijing with his military exploits and became Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Wang Yi'e, Minister of the Ministry of War, became seriously ill and resigned. Is this destiny?
Lin Tailai didn't care what others thought and continued to explain his opinions: "If Zheng Luo can't do it, we can't do without him in the northwest. The bandits in Gansu and the West China Sea have not subsided, so he still needs to be in charge!"
The governor of Jiliao is not good at Jianda. He only came out to control Jiliao last year as the right minister, so his qualifications are slightly junior!
Neither can the Governor of Xuanda, Xiao Daheng. His merits and demerits are too controversial, his reputation is mixed, and his prestige is not suitable for our army!
Shi Xing, the left minister of the Ministry of War, is even more ridiculous. He has never experienced a border town or military affairs. Does he know anything about soldiers? I don’t know who elected him to the Ministry of War in the first place."
Liu Yukui, the left servant, couldn't stand Lin Tailai's behavior of not wanting others to speak, so he interrupted and asked:
"How about Zhang Guoyan, the Minister of Military Affairs who was transferred back to Beijing from the governor of Jiliao last year? He has no shortage of qualifications, prestige and experience."
The Minister of Rongzheng is the official title of the Minister of Military Affairs and the Governor of Jingying. It can be said to be the most important military official position after the army.
Lin Tailai replied without thinking: "In the past two years, ministers have become old, sick or died one after another, which has caused certain chaos in the court.
The fundamental reason is that the ministers are too old, and our Ministry of Civil Affairs should start to correct this problem.
Therefore, this time the official selection must not only look at qualifications and experience, but also age and physical condition, so as to maintain the stability of the court!
Although Shangshu Zhang Guoyan has all the qualifications, experience and prestige, he is old, already sixty-seven or seventy-eight years old, and his physical condition is not good!
However, Ye Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry is slightly younger, only in his early sixties, which is not old for a minister.
The key is that Ye Shangshu is in good health and has no illnesses, so he can serve the court stably!"
Everyone: "."
Who said in the first place that the cabinet was too young and that it should be supplemented by "new people" who are mature and prudent, preferably over 65 years old?
Now you, Lin Tailai, are saying that the court needs to be "younger", so why should old officials who are sixty-seven or seventy-eight years old stop joining in the fun?
Lin Tailai didn't care about the strange looks in others' eyes, and said decisively: "It's important to choose someone who is good but not too many. I think it's enough to recommend Ye Mengxiong. There is no need to recommend anyone else! Okay, that's it!"
Everyone: "..."
You Lin Tailai originally asked: "Who agrees? Who opposes?"
Now, you don’t even ask this question anymore? Just “Just like that”?
What about politeness and respect between people?
Wang Tianguan asked again: "If Ye Mengxiong is recommended, who will be replaced by Minister of Works?"
After careful consideration, Lin Tailai said to Wang Tianguan: "Lao Zhongzai, would you recommend one?"
Wang Tianguan said in surprise: "Is this okay?"
Lin Tailai encouraged, "This is okay."
Wang Tianguan also thought about it carefully and suggested: "The principle of selecting people this time is to keep the people as young as possible to maintain the stability of the court.
According to this principle, among the people who are qualified to serve as Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Chen Yubi, the right minister of the Ministry of Rites and a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, is the most suitable.
Chen Xueshi is forty-seven years old, and he is considered to be in the prime of life. He is the youngest minister-level official in the imperial court today, and he can balance the issue of the high age of the ministers."
Everyone was speechless. God, what on earth have you thought about so deeply? What exactly did Lin Tailai think about?
Lin Tailai was the first to express his position: "Lao Zhongzai Gaojie! I agree!"
Liu Yukui, the left minister, couldn't help but said: "The left minister of the Ministry of Industry worked hard for many years with Heng."
Lin Tailai interrupted directly and said: "Since the death of Song Qi, the former minister of the Ministry of Industry, Zeng Tongheng has been nominated twice, and both of them were nominated by you. In the end, they all failed!
So you elected Zeng Tongheng as minister of the Ministry of Industry for the third time in two months. What is your mentality?
Do you want to use repeated failures to prove to the court that you and Zeng Tongheng are really forming a party?"
Faced with Lin Tailai, who was versatile in both civil and military affairs, Liu Yukui, the left minister, was so angry that he immediately walked away from the meeting.
After the official meeting was over, Lin Tailai went home and instructed his disciple Gu Bingqian to prepare to go south within a few days.
In the evening, Lin Tailai went to Shen Mansion again as agreed to visit Shen Shoufu, who had been away for many days.
Sitting in the study room of the Shen Mansion, Lin Tailai was chatting awkwardly while carefully observing his words and expressions, and found that Shen Shoufu was not in a high mood.
So Lin Tailai joked: "Senior, if you don't want to see me, should I leave right now?"
Shen Shoufu sighed, "It has nothing to do with you, I just feel sorry for Wang Yi'ou."
The past two years have been really unlucky. Among his die-hard followers, Yang Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who was over seventy years old, ran away, and Wu Shilai, the censor of Zuodu, died of old age and illness.
Wang Yi'e, the Minister of War, had been on his side most of the time, but now he seems to be no longer able to do so.
Anyone with some political experience understands that the weaker the chief assistant's control over the court, especially the external ministries, the harder it will be for the chief assistant to do his job.
Shen Shoufu clearly felt that his power had been declining from its peak in the past two years.
What's even more frightening is that this downward trend shows no signs of stopping.
I definitely should talk to Lin Tailai, but I don’t know where to start.
In the end, thousands of words converged into one sentence: "When will you take leave and return home?"
Lin Tailai answered truthfully: "Probably in the past few days, the Minister of War and the Ministry of Works will leave after passing the nomination."
Shen Shoufu immediately reacted, "Your officials recommended Ye Mengxiong to the Ministry of War?"
Lin Tailai replied: "Yes, and at the same time, he recommended Bachelor Chen to the Ministry of Industry.
So regarding the selection of the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, the senior must want to talk to me? By the way, there are still Shujishi to teach, so we can't delay it any longer."
Shen Shoufu: "."
Ci officials have their own system, and internal promotions do not go through the official department. The highest-ranking cabinet bachelor among the Ci officials can do it.
Therefore, the cabinet can decide who should be appointed as a bachelor or a scholar, and it has nothing to do with you, Lin Tailai!
How dare you say that the chief minister wants to talk to you about who should be the master of the academy?
You, Lin Tailai, are used to being the little bully in the civil service department, and you still want to intervene in the promotion of Ci ministers?