The vacancy of such a key position as Minister of War was a very important issue for the court.
Especially now that the Southern Tour is imminent and stability is paramount above all else, the Minister of War who is in charge of military affairs is indispensable, so a new Minister of War must be appointed immediately.
However, for most of the courtiers in the palace, today's situation was very unprepared. They did not expect that Zhang Zan would be dismissed on the spot by Emperor Jiajing.
Most people had no plan and no coordination in advance. The most suitable candidate was almost the Governor of the Beijing Camp, Wang Tingxiang. The Minister of War required professionalism, and not just any person could take on the important task.
According to the usual practice, if the emperor does not inquire, the cabinet bachelors will not take the initiative to recommend candidates for foreign officials in order to avoid being suspected of being authoritarian.
But today, Emperor Jiajing was probably too lazy to listen to the chattering of a group of officials, and only asked three academicians: "Do you, the cabinet ministers, have any recommendations?"
The first assistant, Xia Yan, was hesitantly thinking about something. The second assistant, Gu Dingchen, was more indifferent, so Yan Song spoke first: "After Mao Bowen returned to the army from the southern expedition last year, he has not yet been used, so he can take charge of the military department."
Everyone looked at Mr. Yan Ge in surprise. Everyone knew that Mao Bowen had a close relationship with Xia Yan, but you, Yan Song, actually recommended a person from the Xia Party.
But no one in the palace was stupid. After the initial surprise, everyone figured it out.
Wang Tingxiang's act of standing up to cover Zhang Zan's coffin just now has shown Wang Tingxiang's hope for the position of Minister of War, but Wang Tingxiang is also Xia Yan's close friend for many years.
No matter who you Xia Yan supports, I'm afraid the other person will turn away from you. Especially Mao Bowen is also from Jiangxi, so he might be won over by Yan Song.
At this time, everyone was looking at Xia Yan, and everyone was curious about how Xia Yan would choose.
Not long after, Xia Yan reported to Emperor Jiajing: "The Minister of Justice and Wang Ting have known about military matters for a long time, so they can change the Ministry of War..."
Emperor Jiajing didn't want to delay, so he decided on the spot: "If there is no other objection, Wang Tingxiang will change the Ministry of War!"
Although the suggestion was adopted, Xia Shoufu was not happy at all. He was completely rushed to the shelves today.
Everyone understood Xia Shoufu very well, but he still did not dare to take the risk of completely losing Wang Tingxiang and Qin Dewei behind Wang Tingxiang.
And everyone felt that for Xia Shoufu, Qin Dewei's power was already "too big to lose" and indispensable. If Xia Yan was a powerful minister, then Qin Dewei was a powerful minister among the powerful ministers.
Wang Tingxiang was transferred from the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice to the Minister of the Ministry of War, which he had longed for, so the position of Minister of the Ministry of Justice was vacant again.
Emperor Jiajing may have wanted to end the court meeting early, but he still had no intention of soliciting extensive opinions. He only said to the academicians: "Your cabinet ministers will continue to recommend."
Xia Yan, the first assistant, said nothing. He had already "recommended" a minister of the Ministry of War just now. If he recommended a minister of the Ministry of Punishments again, it would appear to be "greedy for power" and might arouse the emperor's suspicion.
So Yan Song came out again and said: "Mao Bowen has made great achievements in the southern expedition, but has been without a real post for a long time. He can make up for the punishment of the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment."
This truth is correct, Emperor Jiajing accepted it and said: "Yes!"
Since then, the most important personnel change today has been completed, and the positions of two of the six ministers have been changed.
Qin Dewei was a little surprised by Mr. Yan Ge's performance. He could only say that Yan Song was worthy of being Yan Song. In such an unexpected situation, he could still try his best to get some advantages.
In fact, Qin Dewei had just wanted to go up and cause trouble, but the emperor only asked the cabinet bachelor's opinion, and no one else could interrupt, so Qin Dewei could only hold it in.
Others thought Emperor Jiajing's "lazy government" was just a special case today, but it gave Qin Dewei a sense of crisis.
This is already a very obvious sign. I am afraid that the importance of bachelors will become more and more important in the future, and they must be arranged in the cabinet.
Gu Mei
Now Yan Song is the enemy in the cabinet, and Xia Yan is too proud and unwilling to be a tool, so there is only
Next, the court meeting discussed the affairs of the southern tour. First of all, according to convention, if the emperor leaves the capital, the crown prince must stay in the capital to supervise the country.
Even though the current Crown Prince is only a three-year-old child, the Crown Prince is the Crown Prince, and he cannot escape his title of supervising the country.
Immediately, it was time to finalize the left-behind minister with overall responsibility. Emperor Jiajing glanced at the three bachelors and appointed Gu Dingchen as the left-behind minister to assist the crown prince.
He also decreed that Shuntian Prefecture and Daxing and Wanping counties, the censors of the five cities, the military and horse divisions, and the gatekeepers of the imperial city should all obey Gu Dingchen's command.
As for the first assistant Xia Yan and the great scholar Yan Song, they both followed Emperor Jiajing southward.
In addition, according to custom, when the emperor leaves the capital, the six ministers usually follow him to ensure that he remains the political center of the Ming Dynasty.
As for other senior ministers, arrangements will be made based on the situation, and decisions will be made on who will go and who will not.
As the third-in-command of the Hanlin Academy and the third-in-command of Zhan Shifu, Qin Dewei enjoys the treatment of quasi-servant minister and is naturally qualified to be assigned.
Qin Dewei looked at the left-behind scholar Gu Dingchen, and suddenly took the initiative to say: "Your Majesty, Qin Dewei, has received the special favor of your Majesty and has been given a prominent position in the East Palace. I will be respectful day and night. I am willing to stay in Beijing to assist the governor and make your Majesty feel at ease!"
This surprised everyone. They did not expect that Qin Dewei, his favorite, would take the initiative to apply to stay in Beijing.
Of course, Qin Dewei also had his own little calculation. Gu Dingchen, the bachelor, stayed behind. If he stayed in Beijing, he could have a good relationship with Gu Dingchen.
The main reason is that Gu Dingchen is gentle and charming, and has the attributes of a good tool man. It would be great if he can develop into a spokesman for the current cabinet.
This idea is still very feasible. Gu Dingchen is from Kunshan, Suzhou, and Qin Dewei is from Nanjing. They are both from Nanzhili after all.
Moreover, Qin Dewei had always had a good relationship with Suzhou scholars. He was old friends with Wen Zhengming and Wang Shizhen, and he had a very good mass base for making friends with Gu Dingchen.
In addition, Qin Dewei really didn't want to follow him out of Beijing. The preparations for this southern tour were hasty, there were many accidents on the way, and the supplies along the way were not very good.
All in all, it was too hard along the way, and it was easy for Emperor Jiajing to vent his anger and use him as a punching bag.
As for the great achievement of rescuing Emperor Jiajing from the palace fire, Qin Dewei just wanted to say that it was life-threatening, fire and water were ruthless, and someone would die if something went wrong!
After Qin Dewei finished his speech to Emperor Jiajing, he saw Gu Dingchen hurriedly came out to report: "Qin Dewei is knowledgeable and well-versed in the mountains, rivers, geography, customs and customs, and is more suitable to accompany him on his southern tour!"
Qin Dewei looked at Gu Dingchen angrily, "What do you mean? I kindly stayed with you, young master, but you have this attitude?"
But Gu Dingchen didn't feel any kindness at all. He only felt scared. If Qin Dewei stayed in the capital, who would have the final say in the capital? Whose responsibility would it be if something went wrong?
Before Qin Dewei could say anything, Xia Shoufu and Mr. Yan Ge suddenly said: "Qin Dewei should not stay in Beijing!"
The three bachelors jointly prevented Qin Dewei from staying in Beijing and forced Qin Dewei to accompany him on his southern tour. This unprecedented unified attitude shocked the rest of the people.
The elders also have their own concerns. If the emperor, the chief minister, and the six ministers all leave the capital, there will be basically no room at the top of the imperial court in the capital.
Who dares to put Qin Dewei in such an environment? What should one do if Qin Dewei accidentally takes over?
Especially Mr. Yan Ge, he was worried that he would become an old man who lost his only child after returning from Huguang.