Shen Shixing did not want to discuss the promotion of the chief minister with Lin Tailai, as this would offend his dignity as the chief minister of the cabinet.
Therefore, Shen Shixing avoided talking about the selection of Ci officials and started talking about something else:
"I just heard you say that the Ministry of Civil Affairs is planning to recommend Ye Mengxiong, the Minister of Industry, to be the Minister of War?"
Lin Tailai's face was full of surprise: "No way? Didn't the old man just hear the news from me?
It stands to reason that seniors will be able to know the contents of the Ministry of Personnel meetings before sunset. Is it possible that the cabinet’s ears and eyes are so closed now?”
Shen Shixing looked up at the wall for a few times. There were two big words "Control Anger" hanging on the wall, and then he said to Lin Tai:
"Don't get off topic, I just want to discuss a few words with you in private.
It’s fine for Ye Mengxiong to go to the Ministry of War. I don’t have to object. But why should Chen Yubi, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, go to the Ministry of Industry?”
Lin Tailai asked back: "What does the old man mean?"
"There are many people who are qualified to be Minister of the Ministry of Industry, but your Ministry of Civil Affairs has chosen to recommend a Hanlin bachelor. Doesn't this seem like there is no one in the court?
For example, Zhou Cai, who previously held the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Processing and was responsible for the construction of the Governor's Longevity Palace, is also very suitable."
Lin Tailai also avoided talking about it and only said: "The meeting of the Ministry of Personnel has already reached its conclusion, so there is no need to say more."
I just didn’t want to hear your ramblings, Chief Assistant, so I hurried back to the staff department to have a meeting during the day to avoid being disturbed.
Now that the nomination results have come out, I don’t want to listen to the chief minister’s nagging anymore.
Shen Shoufu looked at Lin Tailai as if he were looking at an old-school official who deliberately opposed the cabinet.
After a while, Shen Shoufu spoke again: "You have the final say in the nomination of the two ministers. Are you really so unscrupulous?"
Lin Tailai replied in a flawless manner: "The old man's words are wrong!
The nomination is not my final say, but the most suitable candidate is recommended based on the actual situation, and I hope that the seniors can help."
Shen Shoufu suddenly agreed: "Since you are so reasonable, I will grant you my permission."
Lin Tailai was a little surprised, why did Shen Shoufu give in so readily? Originally, he expected that he might have to pull the strings repeatedly for seven or eight rounds.
So Lin Tailai tentatively said, "Let's talk about the bachelor's degree at the Hanlin Academy?"
If Chen Yubi passes the recommendation and goes to work in the Ministry of Industry, the position of bachelor of the Hanlin Academy will be vacant, which is also a very critical position.
Shen Shoufu pretended to be angry, slapped the case and scolded: "Don't push yourself too far!"
I have already made way for you, Lin Tailai, to be a chancellor. Do you still want to participate in the selection of the chancellor?
Sure enough! Lin Tailai knew that he had guessed correctly, so he said with a smile:
"Why do seniors have to be so sensitive? The promotion of ministers is not decided by your cabinet, so what influence can I have?
It doesn’t matter if we just chat a few words first, I can also help the senior to check the details, by the way, who is the candidate that the senior is interested in?”
Shen Shixing still insisted on his principle and said: "It has nothing to do with you."
"Forget it then." Lin Tailai stood up and said goodbye, "Since the old man has no intention of talking too much, I won't force you to say goodbye tonight. It can be regarded as an early farewell before returning home."
This time it was Shen Shixing's turn to be confused. Isn't Lin Tailai a little too happy? Is Lin Tailai still stalking Lin Tailai?
Although he knew that Lin Tailai might be pulling his strings, Shen Shoufu couldn't help but said, "Are you leaving now?"
Lin Tailai replied: "These two days will be very busy. In addition to preparing to leave Beijing, I also have to visit the elderly in the court and collect some black materials from previous years for future use. Therefore, I may not have free time to say goodbye to the old seniors."
Lin Tailai answered very frankly: "The black material of Zhang Wei, the former right minister of the Ministry of Rites and a scholar of the Hanlin Academy."
Damn it! Shen Shoufu stood up suddenly, his originally amiable demeanor becoming a little distorted.
Even with Shen Shoufu's character, there was already a storm in his heart at this time!
"How did you think of Zhang Wei?" Shen Shoufu blurted out and asked.
It wasn't that the chief assistant couldn't hide his words, but Lin Tailai's performance was too shocking.
You know, this man named Zhang Wei has been living at home for several years. He was not a particularly famous person before. Lin Tailai had never seen him or knew him.
At this time, Lin Tailai did not leave, sat down again, and said in surprise:
"Is the old man's favorite candidate really Zhang? I guessed randomly, but I guessed it right?"
Shen Shixing: "."
I lost tonight's fight, completely lost. Lin Tailai figured out all the secrets in my heart, how could I win?
In the imperial court, there were not many people who were qualified to have in-depth conversations and frank exchanges of opinions with Lin Tailai. Shen Shoufu was one of them, and he did so many times.
So Shen Shoufu had already noticed it, and Lin Tailai's knowledge was simply astonishing.
From the secrets of the palace a hundred and eighty years ago to the anecdotes of various contemporary celebrities, Lin Tailai is incredibly knowledgeable.
Shen Shoufu always believed that there might be an old man who had transcended the era and had a lot of knowledge to spread this knowledge to Lin Tailai, or simply there was a royal official in the palace who leaked the secret to Lin Tailai.
But Shen Shoufu still didn't expect that Lin Tailai could even guess what he was thinking out of thin air without any reason!
You know, I have never mentioned my idea of recommending Zhang Wei to anyone. Only I know this secret in my heart.
Moreover, Zhang Wei is not currently in the imperial court, and has nothing to do with him on the surface. Generally speaking, he would never think that he would recommend Zhang Wei.
So how did Lin Tailai guess it? It was incredible, as if he had the ability to read minds.
Shen Shixing calmed down and asked in a deep voice: "Why do you think I want to recommend Zhang Wei to come back and take charge of the Hanlin Academy? In other words, why should I recommend Zhang Wei?"
Lin Tailai looked confused, "I don't know the reason, I just made a random guess."
In the original 19th year of Wanli history, due to the secret leak incident, the first assistant Shen Shixing and the second assistant Xu Guo both resigned.
Then without any court recommendation, Shen Shixing directly recommended Zhao Zhigao to the emperor, and Zhang was appointed to the cabinet to fill the position.
Based on this piece of historical information, Lin Tailai can boldly guess that Shen Shixing has already taken a fancy to Zhang Wei and will definitely recommend Zhang Wei to the top position if there is a chance.
In this time and space, with Zhao Zhigao already lost, Zhang Wei is probably Shen Shixing's "only" one.
As for Shen Shixing's motivation for recommending Zhang Wei, how could he, Lin Tailai, know about it?
Those historical materials did not clearly describe Shen Shoufu's psychological activities. On the surface, there seemed to be no special relationship between Shen Shixing and Zhang Wei.
Shen Shoufu stared at Lin Tailai, whose face was full of confusion, and still couldn't figure it out in his heart.
Could it be that Lin Tailai is one of those people in history books who seems to have a "destiny"? Even if he makes random guesses out of nothing, he can guess other people's intentions exactly?
Lin Tailai was speechless for a long time when he saw Shen Shoufu, and then asked eagerly: "Senior, can you explain why Zhang was recommended?"
Shen Shixing: "."
Do you, Lin Tailai, have any sense of boundaries? Do you even ask questions about spying on other people's psychological activities?
After hesitating for a while, Shen Shoufu answered in detail. After all, no matter what, Zhang Wei could not avoid Lin Tailai in Cilin.
"There are two reasons. The first is that in recent years, due to the deliberate promotion of certain people, the imperial court factionalism has become more and more intense, and the emperor has many doubts about the formation of factions in the court.
Therefore, it is easier to appoint a minister like Zhang Wei who has not been in court for a long time to cater to the emperor's psychology and gain his support.
Secondly, after Zhang Jiangling, most of the cabinet members were restrained and did not dare to do anything.
Zhang Wei is a person with a strong personality and the courage to take on responsibilities. The future cabinet needs people like this to shoulder important responsibilities."
Lin Tailai's curiosity and desire for knowledge were satisfied, and he suddenly realized: "That's it!"
Now Lin Tailai roughly understands Shen Shoufu's thinking. It is estimated that Shoufu wants to restore his throne first, and at the same time hopes that Luo Wanhua, the Minister of Rites, will fall during the catastrophe of the country during the winter solstice this year.
Then Zhang Wei will be replaced as Minister of Rites, and then, if any cabinet minister, including the chief minister, dies, Zhang Wei will continue to be elected to replace him in the cabinet.
It can be seen from this that Shen Shoufu also foresaw the cruelty of the country's catastrophe and made preparations for it.
Finally, Lin Tailai promised: "The seniors recommended Zhang Wei to come back, and I will never stop him!"
In exchange for Shen Shoufu not causing trouble, the recommendation to the Minister of War can be passed more easily.
After the conversation, in the dead of night, Lin Tailai stood up to say goodbye again.
Before leaving, Shen Shixing asked: "What do you think will happen in the national dispute with this year's winter solstice as the node?"
Lin Tailai replied: "The emperor is losing patience and may directly force the cabinet and ministers of the Ministry of Rites to express their stance."
Shen Shixing asked again: "Is there any way to deal with it?"
Lin Tailai was silent for a moment and then replied: "There is no solution."
Shen Shixing suddenly began to envy Lin Tailai again, it was so transcendent.
Five years ago, that is, the fourteenth year of Wanli, when the war between the country and the country had not yet begun, Lin Tailai began to work tirelessly to make enemies with the Zheng family, with a lot of new and old hatreds.
It even caused Concubine Zheng to instigate a siege by the internal prison, and was publicly scolded by the third prince as "treacherous". This created Lin Tailai's current aloofness.
When watching Lin Tailai and the Zheng family fight five years ago, who could have imagined the situation today? Is this also destiny?
After sending Lin Tailai away, Shen Shoufu said with emotion to his eldest son Shen Yongmao: "Lin Jiuyuan seems to have a destiny."
Uncle Shen yawned lazily and said nonchalantly: "Father, you just know? I've seen it a long time ago."
In the period since then, the senior officials of the imperial court have gone through another round of personnel reshuffles.
The Minister of the Ministry of War has been replaced! The Minister of the Ministry of Industry has been replaced! The right minister of the Ministry of Rites and the bachelor of the Hanlin Academy has been replaced!
Even the dullest person feels that the current situation of the imperial court is too unstable and seems to be about to collapse at any time.
From the 14th year of Wanli to the 18th year of Wanli, the court has been very stable for several years. The occasional change of a minister can not be called a shock.
But from last year to this year, in more than a year, all the seven ministers of the imperial court had changed their names!
The Minister of the Ministry of Affairs was replaced by Wang Shizhen from Yang Wei, the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu was replaced by Yu Shenxing from Wang Zhiyuan, the Minister of Rites was replaced by Luo Wanhua from Yu Shenxing, the Minister of the Ministry of War was replaced by Ye Mengxiong from Wang Yi'e, and the Minister of Punishment was replaced by Lu Guangzu.
He became Sun Piyang, the Minister of Industry was changed from Song Qi to Chen Yubi, and the Yushi of Zuodu was changed from Wu Shilai to Lu Guangzu.
The top leader of the Hanlin Academy was changed from Chen Yubi to Zhang Wei, and the minister of Dali Temple was changed from Zhou Cai to Zhou Ji.
The scale and intensity of such substitutions are simply unprecedented, not even when Zhang Juzheng was liquidated.
But has the imperial court stabilized? Another national disaster is coming during the winter solstice this year, which once again casts a shadow on the hearts of the courtiers.
But all this is not directly related to Lin Tailai for the time being. He has already left the capital on family leave and embarked on the journey back home.
Because he was worried about the canal being frozen, Lin Tailai chose the land route this time, and took great pains to quickly cross Beizhili, which is close to the capital, and enter Henan.
Probably because Beizhili is too close to the capital and is under the direct jurisdiction of the capital, so it cannot be used.
Taking advantage of his position, Lin Tailai got a bunch of rosters of officials above fourth grade from various places along the way for reference.
Customer Gu Bingqian also read through these rosters carefully and repeatedly, helping the proprietor check and fill in the gaps.
While staying at Wei Hui for the night, Gu Bingqian asked: "Who does the proprietor want to see first?"
The journey was boring, so Lin Tailai tested Gu Bingqian and said, "What's the situation here in Henan? Who do you think we should meet first?"
Although in history, Gu Bingqian was known as the "white-bearded chief assistant", he was still the chief assistant after all, and his basic official skills were still very good.
Hearing this, he replied: "Governor Zhou Shixuan had been in residence for seventeen years, and was re-activated as a governor in the twelfth year of Wanli. This year was also the first year that Shen Xiang took full power.
Then Zhou Shixuan became the governor of Henan in just four years. From all indications, this person is definitely a member of Shen Xiang's party, otherwise he would not have been promoted so quickly."
Lin Tailai said without interest: "I can't fight again and again, and I can't take back again. This person is not interesting."
Gu Bingqian continued: "Henan Inspector Zou Xuezhu is from Yuyao. The most important thing is that his wife's surname is Chen, and she should belong to the Qingliu force."
Lin Tailai also agreed, saying: "This man is not only from the same hometown as Chen Younian, the general of Qingliu forces and the chosen man in the original article, but his wife actually has the same surname as Chen Younian.
How can there be such a coincidence? I guess this person is a member of the Qingliu Party, a relative and friend of Chen Younian, let's see if there is any chance to deal with him."
Gu Bingqian responded: "As the saying goes, a strong dragon cannot overwhelm a local snake. It is not easy to control the situation unless you can find local people to help."
Lin Tailai said: “Isn’t the purpose of taking many detours my way to expand my influence and recruit people?
How can you find and develop your own people without provoking disputes and conflicts? As the saying goes, the strong wind knows the strong grass, and the fierce fire knows the true gold!"
Gu Bingqian: "."
The realm of the proprietor is truly unmatched.
Then I heard Lin Tailai sighing: "I feel more and more that my foundation is weak. If you look at any province you pass by, the governor will be the chief minister, and the inspector will be the Qingliu force!
But I have to try my best to recruit people, but I’m not sure whether I can receive them.”
Gu Bingqian comforted him and said: "Whether it is Shen Xiang or Qingliu's power, it has been developing for about ten years.
After all, proprietor, you have only been in the imperial court for two years, so there is no need to be too impatient."