In the end, Huang Zan had no choice but to shamelessly take action in person, and his purpose was different from others. He did not ask Zhu Hao what his future plans were, just because he could become the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Zhu Hao received Huang Zan at his home.
It was already dark at this time. For a night owl like Zhu Hao, he was not in a hurry to rest before Haishi, but Huang Zan's arrival at Haishi made him very resistant.
"...Huang Butang, regarding the arrangement of the Minister of Civil Affairs, Your Majesty has not had any discussion with me. Even if I am a Hanlin bachelor, His Majesty made his own decision and informed me. I'm afraid I can't help you with what you said."
Zhu Hao is also quite straightforward.
I've done everything I can to help you. If I can't help you now, there's really nothing I can do.
Do you think the relationship between me and the emperor will always be harmonious and there will be no conflicts?
Huang Zan asked tentatively: "Then...according to Zhu Xueshi's knowledge, who should take over this position?"
After listening to Zhu Hao's evasive words, Huang Zan no longer asked Zhu Hao to help him. He now wanted to know who would be the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It couldn't always be Yang Yiqing, right?
Zhu Hao shook his head: "I don't know."
What he told was the truth, but to Huang Zan's ears, it was just a concealment and he didn't want to tell the inside story.
"Scholar Zhu, I don't mean anything else. I just want to ask clearly so that I can be prepared for the future." Huang Zan could not glare at Zhu Hao.
When he was asked to join the cabinet, he had already agreed that he would leave after half a year, but now half a year has passed, and he has even taken root in the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Even if he is asked to withdraw from the court, he is unwilling to do so.
So he tried his best not to anger Zhu Hao.
Even though they had different positions on many things, they still pretended to be deeply affectionate. Even Zhu Hao felt that Huang Zan was too hypocritical for the sake of official status.
But we can't blame the other party. Among the officials of the Ming Dynasty, Huang Zan was considered good. This kind of person could at least show anything. Unlike Yang Ting and those people, they were all cunning and philistine people at heart, but they always showed their righteousness.
Ling Ran's appearance.
"Xueshi Huang, you insist on asking this, I really don't know, but since you asked, I can try to analyze it for you." Zhu Hao replied seriously, "His Majesty will transfer Yang Laobutang to Hanlin
The main purpose of the court is not to let it interfere too much in court affairs, can you understand this?"
"yes."
Huang Zan had to admit that Yang Yiqing interfered a little too much in the emperor's affairs.
Gradually, even Huang Zan felt that Yang Yiqing was a bit like his old rival Yang Tinghe, who wanted to be the first in everything, which was the most disliked by the emperor.
Zhu Hao said: "If Your Majesty wants someone else to come up, it must be someone who does not dissuade or give guidance to His Majesty, but he cannot be a die-hard nursing sect like Qiao Shangshu before... You know, Your Majesty would rather use someone who has participated in
The people who discuss the rituals will take on this important task."
A glimmer of hope ignited in Huang Zan's heart and he asked: "That means... I have a chance?"
Zhu Hao wanted to say, you have no chance.
Do you think that everyone else is stupid? With your appearance as a mere mediocre person in the government, if you are asked to be the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, who can you appeal to? Will others listen to you?
Zhu Hao added the conditions for selection: "This person must have prestige. It is best that all officials must be sincerely convinced of him, whether he participates in the ceremony or not."
When Huang Zan heard this, he felt as if he had fallen from the sky, still face down, and immediately smiled awkwardly.
He seemed to have heard that Zhu Hao meant that neither of us is suitable, so don’t think too much about it!
"well!"
Zhu Hao sighed and said, "Actually, Yang Butang is in the best position as the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and he can better help His Majesty win the hearts of the people. But it is a pity that he only wanted to join the cabinet and help the country in the most direct way, so he never
We have considered the issue of who should be awarded the position. His Majesty transferred him to the position of Hanlin Bachelor, mostly on a temporary basis, so that no successor candidate for the Minister of Civil Affairs has been arranged at all."
Huang Zan asked again: "Who has the best chance?"
Zhu Hao said: "Unless there is someone in the cabinet or someone outside the court, it is difficult to say."
Huang Zan shook his head and smiled bitterly.
He heard what Zhu Hao meant. Zhu Hao felt that except for the cabinet bachelor, no one in the court was qualified to succeed Yang Yiqing as Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. This made Huang Zan very unconvinced.
But what Zhu Hao actually wants to say is that the emperor has the right to decide who is qualified or not, and the emperor's criterion for hiring people is not whether the person is capable, but what the person's political leanings are, and whether Yang Tinghe is in the court.
The remaining party.
At present, the emperor's selection of officials has almost one purpose, which is to eliminate all Yang Tinghe's remnants in the court one by one.
In the original history, starting from the fourth year of Jiajing reign, Emperor Jiajing appointed many marginal officials transferred from Nanjing, as well as those unknown members of the Lili faction. It was precisely because of this that Yan Song had the opportunity to rise rapidly.
.
Huang Zan said: "Then...is it true that I have no chance of becoming a high-ranking person?"
"have."
Zhu Hao said, "We need Huang Butang to fight with His Majesty yourself. Only Your Majesty can decide this matter. It's meaningless for you to come and tell me. If His Majesty agrees, then go ahead. If Your Majesty doesn't agree, it's all in vain!"
…
…
When Huang Zan left, he was in a very depressed mood.
The advice given by Zhu Hao was to ask him to ask the emperor. No matter how I heard it, it was unreliable. Could it be that he went to the emperor and recommended himself? Am I crazy?
After sending Huang Zan away, Zhu Hao felt a little disappointed.
It was as if Tang Yin was sitting next to him again, rolling his eyes at him, asking him why he bothered Huang Zan so much, and then asking in detail who was more likely.
It's a pity that he has passed away.
Zhu Hao felt that he had lost a close friend. He usually made jokes with Tang Yin, which was also a kind of happiness.
After Huang Zan returned, he naturally would not ask the emperor. The "shortcut" he thought of was to ask Zhang Zuo. He also adopted a roundabout tactic and asked someone to send gifts to Wang Zuo, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, who would then inform him.
Zhang Zuo asked him to go to the household department to meet and discuss in detail.
Zhang Zuo originally thought there was something important going on, but when he found out that it was Huang Zan who had an appointment, he went there.
Recently, because Zhu Hao did not ask about court affairs, Zhang Zuo has been extremely busy. Because the emperor, like Zhu Hao, also slacked off on court affairs, which means that Zhu Si and Zhu Hao were fishing at the same time, and the fishing could only be done by him, who had been running errands before.
When a person does it, he is so tired that he presses his chest against his back.
"Eunuch Zhang, I would like to ask about the candidate for Minister of Civil Affairs." Huang Zan was very direct and got straight to the point.
Zhang Zuo shook his head and smiled bitterly when he heard this.
Who really cares about anything? Zhang Zuo really wanted to say, if you ask Mr. Zhu, wouldn't it be better than asking our family?
Zhang Zuodao: "How did our family know this? You should ask Mr. Zhu."
Huang Zan said helplessly: "I asked him, and he said that I can only do it by asking His Majesty."
Zhang Zuo smiled bitterly again. Zhu Hao's answer was really simple and direct, but thinking about it, the situation is similar. The emperor is now complacent in having the power to appoint and remove officials in the court, and takes pleasure in transferring official positions at will, sometimes completely ignoring the thoughts of his ministers.
, and promotion rules.
In general... the emperor is like a wild horse running wild, and no one can control it except Zhu Hao, but Zhu Hao still refuses to take action.
Zhang Zuodao: "Why don't you just listen to Mr. Zhu?"
Huang Zan smiled bitterly and said, "Does Mr. Zhang even think so?"
Zhang Zuo looked around and made sure that there was no one around him, then he stepped forward and whispered: "Maybe you can find another way, you might as well make some connections with others."
"who?"
Huang Zan didn't have a clear mind.
Zhang Zuodao: "Who is the current one? Naturally, I will ask the next one."
Huang Zan was even more speechless.
This eunuch actually asked me to ask Yang Yiqing?
Zhang Zuo sighed and said: "Huang Laobu Tang, let's be honest. Your Majesty seems to have some thoughts on the use of troops in the northwest recently. Regarding the dispatch of grain, grass and baggage, if you can make more suggestions and efforts, your Majesty will
Maybe it will give you a chance to be promoted."
Zhang Zuo did not follow Huang Zan in circles.
I know that Huang Zan wants to rise to power, so I will point out a clear way for you. Don't think about who to ask for help. Asking for help from others is better than asking for help from yourself. Doing some political achievements yourself and winning the emperor's appreciation are more important than anything else.
Huang Zan frowned and asked: "Are we going to use troops in the northwest again? Could it be that the imperial army wants to take the initiative?"
Huang Zan didn't understand.
Although the northwest has not been peaceful in the past two years, the Ming Dynasty has always been on the defensive in the northwest. If it wants to use troops, it probably has to wait for the Tatars to come over. If the Ming army takes the initiative to attack... it will probably be easy to lose troops and generals.
.
Could it be that the emperor also wanted to learn from his predecessor and continue to cause trouble in the northwest, making ministers dare not speak out?
Zhang Zuodao said: "We really don't know what the specific arrangements will be. If His Majesty really wants to use troops, Mr. Zhu will probably be the one to take charge of the military affairs of the three sides."
"ah?"
Huang Zan felt that his outlook on life had been subverted again.
The emperor wants to use Zhu Hao to lead troops to the northwest?
That's really similar to Emperor Zhengde's reuse of Jiang Bin.
After all, Jiang Bin had a martial arts background and had commanded troops to win battles, but what qualifications did Zhu Hao have?
Even though Zhu Hao had helped Tang Yin win the battle at Juyongguan, he was still far from being a qualified commander, right?
However, this explains why Zhu Hao has never been involved in the specific affairs of the DPRK.
Could it be that Zhu Hao has been actively preparing for war?
Zhang Zuo said again: "At the moment, your Majesty doesn't care too much about who will succeed the Minister of Civil Affairs. I guess he will maintain the status quo. We will leave first."
Zhang Zuo didn't want to talk too much to Huang Zan.
He felt that he had been deceived by Huang Zan. Since there was nothing important, he had to go back to the Supervisor of Ceremonies to preside over Zhu Biao's affairs.
Huang Zan said: "I have prepared a small gift for Eunuch Zhang."
"How...why are you so embarrassed?"
When Zhang Zuo heard that there was a gift, he suddenly became happy.
Recently, no one has really given him gifts, mainly because his official position is very embarrassing. He is not like Huang Jin who can leave the palace at any time. The emperor is strict with him, and there is Zhu Hao sitting on his head, making him cautious.
Furthermore, the group of old subordinates left by Yang Tinghe were a bit "ignorant" and generally refused to pay to open up the joints.
After thinking about it, Huang Zan is more reliable and generous.
"Huang Butang, you are too polite."
Zhang Zuo was in a good mood, so naturally he talked a lot, "I might as well tell you that Mr. Zhu is not very interested in the war in the northwest now. He is more concerned about the war on the southeast coast. He has previously given secret reports one after another and mentioned an expedition.
Overseas. We don’t know what he thinks, but it is said that there are things overseas that the Ming Dynasty does not have.
"Anyway, you should think carefully about it yourself. We don't know if it will help you become the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Oh, by the way, don't forget the Minister of Rites, he is also a strong competitor for you."