Although Emperor Jiajing convened a "ten-member group" from home and abroad plus one Qin Dewei, on the issue of candidates for Zhan Shifu, the opinions of the cabinet still dominated, and the outer court had little say.
Because Zhan Shifu is the same as Hanlin and the cabinet. The boundary of power belongs to the inner court. Too much interference from outside the court is considered to have ulterior motives.
After the third and fourth grades were agreed upon, Xia Yan, the first assistant, continued to report to the emperor: "Among the officials in Chunfang, the fifth grade on the left and the concubine on the right are Wang Jiao and Qin Dewei. I think they can all be retained."
Then the great scholar Yan Song objected: "Qin Dewei is frivolous and cannot assist the East Palace!"
Xia Yan looked at Qin Dewei who was still silent in surprise, and said to Yan Song: "What's wrong with Qin Dewei?"
Yan Song replied very rationally: "Qin Dewei is too young and his character is uncertain. I don't know what he will be like in his old age. How can he use an unexpected person in the East Palace?"
It can be seen from the example just now that Emperor Jiajing's criteria for selecting officials in Zhan Shifu were those who were relatively old, had withstood long-term tests, and were determined to be loyal and upright, and would not deteriorate again.
After all, the prince is young, and if he chooses the wrong person, he can easily be controlled by people with bad intentions, or his views may be distorted.
Huo Tao, the censor of Zuodu, also added in a very heart-wrenching manner: "With Qin Dewei's age, if he has been tutored for several decades, there may be something wrong with Yi Yin."
This means that Qin Dewei is too young, and the time spent tutoring the prince may be extremely long, and some serious problems will arise.
Huo Tao, who had been the hero of the Great Li Conference eighteen years ago, was sure that the suspicious Emperor Jiajing would be most susceptible to this trick.
At this time, Qin Dewei finally stood up and said crisply: "Please resign, you concubine!"
This was the first time Qin Dewei spoke since he came to the palace, but everyone was very surprised by what Qin Dewei said.
This is unscientific. According to customary thinking, the little bully Qin Dewei should have fought with Yan Song and Huo Tao for 300 rounds.
So no one expected that Qin Dewei would admit defeat without saying a word?
Speaking of which, Qin Dewei has been in the court for several years, and everyone has never seen Qin Dewei so cowardly.
Emperor Jiajing, who had not yet made a decision, was also quite surprised and subconsciously asked: "Are you speaking out of anger?"
This kind of small-scale meeting with a dozen or so people speaks relatively casually and is relatively down-to-earth, without too much pretense.
Emperor Jiajing said whatever came to his mind. He suspected that Qin Dewei was deliberately being petty.
Qin Dewei replied very definitely and affirmatively: "I propose to establish the East Palace, which is for the sake of the world, and also to understand His Majesty's worries about the southern tour, not for my own selfish reasons!
Therefore, I would like to resign You Shuzi to show my selflessness! I am definitely not angry because of what Yan Song and Huo Tao said. A gentleman is magnanimous and does not bother to refute the words of a villain!"
Emperor Jiajing thought for a moment and said: "That's right."
Everyone is puzzled. You, Qin Dewei, proposed to establish the East Palace, and then you got nothing. Instead, you lost a concubine. What did you want?
Or is Qin Dewei really selfless?
There was no one else speaking for a while, and Qin Dewei took the opportunity to say again: "I also have two suggestions, which I hope your Majesty will listen to and adopt.
Article 1: Seventy years ago, after Li Xian established the rule that non-Hanlin officials would not join the cabinet, Ci officials had no experience in general affairs at all. Over the years, they would rather die in Ci, rather than move elsewhere.
I have been dissatisfied with this trend for a long time! Although it is difficult to change, I hope that there will be some changes during the relocation of the officials in the East Palace, and more officials who have been assigned to other places will be recruited!"
When Zhang Cong and Gui E were in power, they had deep conflicts with the Imperial Academy, and a large number of Imperial Academy officials were excluded and sent to other places. This is the group of people Qin Dewei is talking about.
Others were shocked when they heard Qin Dewei's words.
It’s okay for others to say so. You, Qin Dewei, are the youngest number one scholar in history and can be called the biggest beneficiary of the Ci Chen system, but you are also anti-system!
Qin Dewei continued: "Article 2, although the East Palace officials are established, they cannot be completely independent without upper-level supervision! I propose that Yan Song, the last cabinet scholar, be in charge of the affairs of the East Palace!"
Everyone was extremely shocked. Qin Dewei went too far! Almost every word he said was the opposite of what he usually said!
Yan Song deliberately excluded Qin Dewei just now. Qin Dewei didn't care about tit-for-tat, but he recommended Yan Song backhand?
The basic common sense in the officialdom is that whoever controls the East Palace will control the future, so people are eager to take the official position in the East Palace, and what they want is to follow the dragon's merits.
You, Qin Dewei, actually suggested that General Yan Song be allowed to take charge of the East Palace. What does that mean? After being selfless, he turned to repaying evil with kindness?
You, Qin Dewei, are here just for the sake of being conceited today? Can you do something to make everyone understand?
But after Qin Dewei finished speaking, there was no more explanation, and he only retreated to the corner with a look of astonishment and confusion.
It is up to others to guess whoever they like as the official of the East Palace. Anyway, Qin Dewei has no interest in it!
In history, after being carefully cultivated for thirteen years, the crown prince died inexplicably when he was sixteen or seventeen years old, directly trapping a group of officials who wanted to follow the dragon genus.
It also caused Emperor Jiajing to vomit blood and doubt his life, and then there is the allusion of "two dragons never meet".
So if we evaluate the Dong Palace team that is the most deceitful in Ming Dynasty, this one is definitely one of the strong candidates.
Anyway, in historical memory, this wave of East Palace officials, except for the stubborn Xu Jie, basically all went to the streets, so why did Qin Dewei join in the fun?
Therefore, Qin Dewei did not hesitate when he resigned from his position as You Shuzi, and was even unusually quiet. He did not recommend anyone close to him to go to the East Palace.
Moreover, he was secretly happy when he saw others stuffing their cronies into the East Palace. Wouldn't it be nice to just sit and wait for these cronies to fall into a big hole together in thirteen years?
And the most important thing is to recommend Yan Song to lead the East Palace, which can prompt Yan Song to spend a lot of energy and resources in the East Palace. After thirteen years, you can laugh and watch Yan Song's basket of water come to nothing.
Having the information advantage of foresight and foresight is so exciting!
Rather than asking for Lidong Palace, it was more like digging a big hole. Qin Dewei felt that his long-term operation spanning thirteen years was of an atmospheric level.
Look at all these people, no one can understand me!
Although everyone was surprised and confused by Qin Dewei's strange performance, the discussion still had to continue.
Emperor Jiajing did not comment on Qin Dewei's suggestions for the time being, and let the ministers continue to discuss other officials in the East Palace.
The bureau in Zhanshifufang Bureau refers to the Economic and Economic Affairs Bureau, which has the official position of horse washing.
Xia Yan recommended a candidate, Tanhua in the second year of Jiajing, who was demoted to the local Xu Jie because he offended the former chief minister Zhang Fujing.
Qin Dewei could only say that among the people you have promoted in your life, Master Xia, this is the only one you have chosen rightly.
Then I heard the names of Luo Hongxian, who was the champion in the eighth year of Jiajing, and Tang Shunzhi, who was the champion in the eighth year of Jiajing.
Both of them went back to their hometowns after offending the former chief minister Zhang Fuking. This time they were all recalled by Emperor Jiajing regardless of their previous suspicions.
Huo Tao didn't look very good. As Zhang Fujing's ally and close comrade-in-arms, he didn't know how he felt when he saw those who had contradicted him being recalled one by one.
It should be said that the East Palace team prepared by Emperor Jiajing for the prince was not careless, and it can be said to be a star-studded team today. However, in the end, fate took advantage of people, and finally they all rushed to the street.
While Qin Dewei was listening to others nominate candidates and commenting secretly in his mind, he unexpectedly heard the great scholar Gu Dingchen recommending Hua Cha as Zuo Zanshan.
Phew! Qin Dewei suddenly laughed out loud and couldn't hold back when he heard the name.
Everyone wants to hit someone for some reason, what's so funny about that? You, Qin Dewei, have had enough of your endless pranks today!
This is another joke that only Qin Dewei himself knows. If I remember correctly, Hua Cha’s nickname in his hometown will be Taishi Hua.
That's right, he is the prototype character of Taishi Hua from Washington in the later folk story of Tang Bohu Dianqiuxiang.
Although Hua Cha is actually thirty years younger than Tang Bohu, there is not much research on folklore.
"Qin Dewei!" Suddenly a voice came from the throne. Qin Dewei was also a well-trained courtier, and he immediately stepped out of the procession like a conditioned reflex.
But Emperor Jiajing ignored Qin Dewei, and instead asked Xu Zan, the Minister of Civil Affairs: "What is Qin Dewei's current official position?"
With so many ministers under his command, the official system of the Ming Dynasty was quite intertwined and complicated, especially the official positions of ministers and ministers all seemed to be similar. It was impossible for Emperor Jiajing to remember all the official titles of everyone very accurately.
Fortunately, after having just worried about Qin Dewei's appointment, Xu Zan was still able to answer the question and immediately said:
"Qin Dewei has resigned as the right concubine, and is currently only a bachelor's degree from the fifth rank. He is also the Shaoqing of Honglu Temple and the admiral of the Siyi Pavilion. There is also an imperial edict for promotion, but it has not been drafted yet."
The situation was a bit complicated, and Emperor Jiajing didn't understand it for a while.
Qin Dewei immediately said: "Your Majesty does not need to care about my official position. As long as I can serve your Majesty, I don't care much about external things. It doesn't matter even if I am demoted to the fifth rank!"
After this "reminder", Emperor Jiajing finally reacted,
Qin Dewei's rank of fifth rank was due to the addition of the right concubine. And Qin Dewei's resignation as the right concubine was approved just now without any other compensation, so Qin Dewei was just a bachelor of the fifth rank.
So it is equivalent to saying that Qin Dewei was demoted from the fifth grade to the fifth grade for no reason.
Originally, there would be no reward for the conquest of Annan, but the reward for editing Empress Dowager Chiang's "Women's Training" has not yet been implemented. As a result, Qin Dewei was demoted just now. This is really bullying.
Even the emperor who was mean and ungrateful felt a little embarrassed when he thought of this.
Qin Dewei took the opportunity to say again: "I just said that I don't want to see the Ci officials encircle the territory and self-proclaimed. I only know how to extract chapters and sentences, which is what I say from the bottom of my heart! The practice of Ci officials transferring court officials, please start with Qin Dewei!"
The others were shocked. You, Qin Dewei, are not just talking about being anti-system, but you actually mean it?
Qin Dewei just took the initiative to resign as the right concubine, and was demoted for being "innocent". He was waiting for this opportunity.
He was very sober. After Emperor Jiajing finished his southern tour, he would be discouraged and enter the cultivation mode, and would rarely go to court in the future.
It can be said that even if you are a Hanlin Ci official, you will have little chance to meet the emperor in the future. Then what is the use of continuing to be a Hanlin Ci minister?
If you don't have access to the emperor's ministers, it's just a decoration! Instead of wasting time in Hanyuan, it's better to transform and go to the outer dynasty to gain some real power.
In this situation, Emperor Jiajing, who already feels guilty, will not treat himself badly, right?
At least a fourth-rank official with real power would start, such as the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, the General Affairs Department, and the General Affairs Department, both of which are pretty good, or the Right Qiandu Censor, who is the governor of Beizhili, would be pretty good too.
But others can't understand Qin Dewei's thinking. I really feel that Qin Dewei has completely lost his mind and gone crazy today, as if he has been suppressed by someone!
Emperor Jiajing looked at Qin Dewei suspiciously and remained silent for a long time.
Today, everyone else is trying to trick people into the East Palace, but you, Qin Dewei, are the only ones who do the opposite and deliberately resign from your official position in the East Palace!
You don’t even want to be a minister, and you actually want to move to another court!
Or did he deliberately behave differently to attract attention? But Emperor Jiajing did not think that Qin Dewei was such a shallow person who did things without any purpose.
After Emperor Jiajing pondered for a long time, he spoke again and said: "I just allowed Qin Dewei to resign as your concubine. It seems a bit hasty and it is really unfair to a meritorious minister."
Qin Dewei said quickly: "This is your Majesty's sage wisdom. I am indeed not suitable to assist the East Palace!"
Emperor Jiajing still ignored Qin Dewei and asked his chief assistant: "Is there still a vacancy for the officials in the East Palace?"
Xia Yan looked at the record and replied: "The agreement has just been completed, and there are no vacancies now."
Emperor Jiajing ordered: "Then add another official position."
Xia Shoufu was a little confused, what should I add?
Emperor Jiajing added: "Reinstate the bachelor of Zuo Chunfang in Zhanshi Mansion."
Xia Shoufu was even more confused. Eighty or ninety years ago, the imperial court abolished the creation of left and right Chunfang bachelors.
In the earliest days, cabinet ministers once borrowed the official title of Zuochunfang University Scholar.
Later, cabinet ministers changed their official names to Diange Dashi, such as Wenyuange Dashi, Wuyingdian Dashi, etc., and no longer borrowed Zuo Chunfang Dashi.
However, the official title of Zuochunfang University Scholar was too domineering and could easily be confused with the title of Cabinet University Officer, so it was dropped.
The ministers were speechless. What else is the emperor going to do?
Although everyone was used to Emperor Jiajing having frequent convulsions, the emperor could always have another convulsion at an unexpected angle.
Emperor Jiajing then looked at Qin Dewei and continued to issue an order: "Appoint Qin Dewei and Bachelor of Zuo Chunfang. He will not participate in the lecture affairs of the East Palace and will only be responsible for supervision."
The ministers were immediately in an uproar. Your Majesty was too fond of Qin Dewei. Is it because he was a "Jiajing man"?
Qin Dewei has clearly stated that he wants to go abroad, but His Majesty is reluctant to let him go?
Even the official position of "Grand Scholar of Zuo Chunfang", which had been dead for almost a hundred years, was immediately given to Qin Dewei!
Although this official is only a fifth-rank official, his name is "Grand Scholar"! And because of its historical origin, it can be called an extremely special official position!
But this appointment was like a bolt from the blue, hitting Qin Dewei directly, and he even forgot the etiquette of thanking him.
The East Palace is a big pit. He has already escaped. Why does the emperor have to drag him back? Are you sick?
Qin Dewei hurriedly shouted: "Your Majesty! How virtuous and capable I am, I will never be worthy of it! I dare not accept my order!"
Emperor Jiajing sneered secretly, although I don't understand why Qin Dewei wants to run away, but it doesn't matter, I can prevent you from running away and see what you are thinking!
The less you think about it, the more I want to use you! Authority is exercised by the king, and it is never based on the ideas of the ministers!