The winter of the second year of Zhengde was quite cold.
The north wind blew up, picking up the fallen leaves on Chang'an Street, flying along the walls of the imperial city, and straight into the palace.
A lot of things happened in the Ming Dynasty this year, and the people had a lot to talk about after dinner.
For example, the Royal Donghai Company was established more than half a year ago. Money is flowing in every day. Luo Xiang, the chairman of its board of directors, has built a house no less than that of a prince in the capital and his hometown. Even Liu Yuhe, who is standing next to him, is enjoying the autumn breeze.
Liang and Chu each also bought tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in their hometowns.
The plight of these three people made the officials of the Metropolitan Procuratorate jealous. Impeachment memorials flew into the court every day like snowflakes.
Zhu Shou turned a deaf ear to this, and after accepting too much, he asked Boss Liu to drag out a group of civil servants who didn't like them, drag them outside the Meridian Gate, spank them, and burn the memorials.
In the cold winter, the cannon fodders who were stripped naked and spanked, in shame and anger, some hanged themselves, some jumped into wells, and some were beaten to death.
Zhu Shou and Boss Liu had no good way to deal with these little strong men who could not be killed, beaten to death, or exterminated. They had to resort to the same old methods, fight one faction, win over another faction, and kill another faction by the way.
After a lot of troubles, the emperor's ears were cleared, and many positions were vacated among the middle and lower-level officials in the capital.
The previous purges in the second year of Zhengde were initiated by Ge Lao, the Emperor, and Liu Lao. I will not list them all. In short, by the end of December of that year, all the alternate officials in the Ming Dynasty were happy.
Flowers bloomed.
The most indispensable thing in the Ming Dynasty was civil servants. A group of people fell, and there were thousands of Jinshi, who were waiting in line to serve.
Then a huge problem arose: a serious earthquake occurred in the official buying market.
The buying and selling of officials has never ceased since the establishment of political power. No matter what system the society is in, this industry has strong vitality and can be said to be the first national industry.
However, the matter of buying an official has nothing to do with the otaku emperor. However, any emperor with a normal IQ will not personally participate in selling an official. Of course, some emperors whose heads have been pinched by door panels are not in this category.
Although he has no political acumen, Zhu Shou has a normal IQ. Recently, his thoughts have been focused on his plan to create a man with Concubine Wang Zhao.
It's the twelfth lunar month of winter, even otakus have to be lazy. Can't they always be wise and mighty and cause trouble?
The operating situation of Donghai Company is stable. Bizhen of Longjiang Bao Shipyard is looking for a girl from Jiangnan as his wife every day, and Wang Wei is also working hard to build ships. Except for the eunuch's finding a wife, which is a bit inconsistent, there is no internal strife. The Daming Martial Arts Academy in Baoding is operating normally, and many
The old man has great talent and strategy, the old farmer Cao is outstanding in force, and Gao Guchen is brave and loyal. He manages a small military academy. It is obvious that he has great talent but little use.
The twenty treaty ports were also calm. Except for the decrease in trade volume in winter, there were no major events.
Qin Xiaoxiong and Governor Liu formed a group to go to the Japanese country to cause trouble, but no results have been reported so far. It is said that Ouchi Yixing is still thinking about the matter of Shangluo, because his wife is pregnant, and it is said that it is a son. Therefore, Yixing's literary style is so popular that he decided to
When the wife gives birth, if it is a legitimate son, then they will rebel against Shangluo. If it is a daughter, then everyone will wait a little longer.
Qin Xiaoxiong was speechless about this, so he had to lead Governor Liu and 20,000 Ming Dynasty soldiers to fight pirates every day. He made money, won over his subordinates, and even provoked the newly succeeded North Korean King Li Yi to write a letter: Emperor,
That bastard Qin Dongyi is doing things in my backyard every day, so you have to make the decision for me.
Qin Dongyi was an official of the Ming Dynasty, and he also led Ming Dynasty soldiers. North Korea, which held the title of Ming Dynasty, was also a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty, and the king was also a minister of Zhu Shou.
Therefore, Zhu Shou had no choice but to warn Qin Dongyi: Don't engage in North Korea for the time being. Just transfer to Jeju. Go engage those rich country people in Kyushu. They won't be able to accuse you...
As for the envoy mission, everyone selectively ignored it. Emperor Gokashiwara couldn't afford meat anyway. When the envoy went to his place, he didn't even have good food and wine. Anyone who was interested could go. Qin Dongyi and Liu
The Governor definitely has no interest in going.
One night, Liu Jin, Boss Liu said implicitly: Your Majesty, everyone has been very tired recently, why don't you stay in the palace and play with the ladies? Stop messing around and wiping your butt, it really gives you a headache.
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Master Yang and Prime Minister Li also felt the same way. Finally, Jiao Fang concluded: How about everyone have a happy New Year. The main political task during this period is to spank those disobedient officials.
While Zhu Shouzheng was hesitating, the Empress Dowager Zhang who lived deep in the palace also spoke: Son, I have found many sisters for you. You have to carry on the ancestral lineage for our Zhu family. This is comparable to opening up the sea, training troops, and destroying Japanese countries.
Major events are much more important. They are the first state affairs of the Ming Dynasty.
The eunuchs and ministers did not have to listen to what they said, but I had to listen to what my mother said, so Zhu Shou "loved Concubine Wang Zhao more and more deeply."
Empress Dowager Zhang was very dissatisfied with this point. There were so many girls in the palace, so what good could Concubine Wang Zhao do?
Empress Xia, Concubine Wu De and Concubine Shen Xian were extremely jealous. The palace fights between the four concubines continued. Every day, one or two eyeliners were killed by each other, and several new ones were created.
However, as long as Zhu Shou did not play tricks, Empress Dowager Zhang would let her precious son dote on Concubine Wang Zhao, while Zhu Shou had always ignored the opinions of the other three women.
He is not the kind of protagonist who can't walk around when he sees a woman. There are no "palace flowers" in the palace. In the Ming Dynasty, which lacks cosmetics and skin care products, there is a beautiful woman who always stays with him.
, the otaku is very satisfied.
At least, I am very satisfied for now.
So Concubine Wang Zhao started to blow the pillow wind: Dear Your Majesty, look, my father doesn’t have a title, my brothers don’t have a title, and my relatives don’t have an official title. What should I do?
Zhu Shou felt comfortable being served by her, and with a stroke of his pen, he made Concubine Wang Zhao's father uncle, and all the brothers except the eldest brother were given the rank of commander or above. In addition, because of Wei Bin's outstanding achievements, he made his younger brother Wei Ying the governor.
You know, the hereditary commander in royal robes.
Old Pimp Wei finally ushered in his golden period, which made Old Wei, who had been idle recently, very happy: You see, this is the effect of investing in women, it opens every three years, and it lasts three years after opening!
In addition to Wei Bin, Concubine Wang Zhao's political allies in the palace include Liu Jin, Boss Liu, and Admiral Zhang Yong. Although Wei, Liu, and Zhang are all at odds with each other, Concubine Wang Zhao does not care about their internal fighting because she has recently become obsessed with it.
After joining the business of selling officials, with the help of Boss Liu, it can be said that he is making money every day.
Zhang Cai, the Minister of Civil Affairs, was Boss Liu's second-in-command and the direct implementer of Concubine Wang Zhao's betrayal.
Some people may ask, wouldn't a smart emperor not participate in selling his official position? Zhu Shou had a normal IQ, but he still allowed his little wife to sell her official position?
In fact, in the history books, it was a very common thing in the Ming Dynasty for the emperor's concubine to sell her official position. Even if Zhu Shou knew about it, he would not punish her. So Wang Zhaofei's official positions became more and more popular, starting from the lowest Kedao official.
Arrive at Nanjing, Minister of Household Affairs.
Now, the chief assistant Li Dongyang quits his job. Isn’t this just playing the piano randomly?
Although it is a bench position in Nanjing, it is still a minister after all. At that level, the minister of the Ming Dynasty can also buy and sell? So why do you need Ting Tui to come? Why do you need to come here with a special order?
In anger, the old prime minister directly wrote a letter to impeach Zhang Cai for buying and selling official titles, which kicked off the three-year political struggle of Zhengde.
This strange genius who bought an official position and bought a minister was named Chen Jin. He created a miracle in the history of buying an official position in the Ming Dynasty and pushed this national first industry to a new historical peak...
Let’s not talk about the wonderful man Chen Jin. Let’s take a look at the official selection system of the Ming Dynasty.
Cabinet bachelors and officials above Shangshu were all elected by the imperial court, or promoted by the emperor's special decree. These are the highest ruling levels of the Ming Dynasty, and they cannot be careless. Which faction has greater political power can be allowed to rise.
, such as today’s Liu Jin first line, Li Dongyang first line and Yang Tinghe first line.
The governors and governors of foreign officials are also generated by Ting Tui. The affiliation of the faction is similar to that of ministers and superiors.
The remaining officials are either recommended by the Ministry of Personnel and officials of third rank or above, recommended by the Ministry of Personnel on their own, or decided by the cabinet. There are different methods of selection depending on the department and position.
In short, no high-ranking official of third rank or above can be created simply by buying and selling. Although money is important and the national primary industry is brilliant, the fundamental factions and political balance are more important.
The Kedao officials that Wang Zhaofei first sold were not so particular. Kedao, which is also the nickname given to Shi Zhonghe Yushi, has fifty clerks and one hundred and twenty Taoist officials. The origins include Jinshi, etc.
There are also external officials such as Gong and Jiansheng, as well as recommending officials and county magistrates.
Moreover, these are the positions that the emperor has been busy with all day long. Those who choose them are just using them as a springboard, because the grades are there, which will facilitate the next step of buying an official. No one will take their responsibilities seriously.
After briefly talking about the selection of officials in the Ming Dynasty, we will know the big mistake Wang Zhaofei made: she affected the factional struggle in the court.
What about Chen Jin? Is he so stupid that he didn’t know the ropes and spent his own money to jump in?
So let’s take a look at Chen Jin. His courtesy name is Ruli. His ancestral home is Yingcheng. He was born in an official family in Wuchang. His grandfather was an official in the prefecture and his father was an official in Guangxi. In the eighth year of Chenghua, he passed the Jinshi examination and went directly to
Wuyuan, a place with beautiful mountains and clear waters, became the county magistrate.
Judging from his resume, he is a small-scale rich man, and I don’t know whether he is handsome or not.
How could he make such a low-level mistake? We have to go back to the first year of Zhengde to talk about this matter.
This year, Chen Jin, who was the right minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing at the time, was impeached by Zhou Xi, saying that he was incompetent. The Ministry of Household Affairs in Nanjing was a place where you could just have a cup of tea for a day, so why did you need to be competent?
?
Who is Zhou Xi? A hard-brand eunuch member and one of Admiral Zhang Yongzhang’s little thugs.
And what about Chen Jin? In the thirteenth year of Hongzhi, he was appointed as the right deputy censor of the capital, patrolled Yunnan, quelled the rebellion of Chief Mengyang Silu and others, and later defeated the rebellion of Milu and others in Guizhou.
He was born as a Jinshi, had military achievements, and was born into a family of officials. This kind of bureaucrat is a typical talent. How can he be incompetent?
Looking into the reasons, it is not difficult to find that Chen Jin and Li Dongyang have a very close relationship. He also has a close relationship with Yang Yiqing, who is in the same department. Therefore, he was attacked by Zhou Xi, which is an obvious factional struggle.
It is said that in the eighth year of Chenghua, this subject really produced a lot of military talents.
Then why did Li Dongyang fall out with Chen Jin in a rage, impeach Zhang Cai, and target Concubine Wang Zhao who helped Chen Jin buy an official position?
This has to talk about Chen Jin's political methods.