As the First Emperor spoke, the dispute that had been going on for so long was finally settled.
Although there will definitely be tense follow-up to the fraud surrounding Xiao Tan and the imperial examination, at least that's enough for today's morning meeting.
With an unexpected situation like Xiao Tan cutting his pulse, the ministers present were not in the mood to talk about the Hanlin bachelor's degree and the imperial examination.
Just when they thought that today's morning court meeting was about to end, the Emperor spoke again and said.
"Except for the imperial examination, Xiao Tan was dismissed from his post at home. Now that something like this happened again, he probably needs to rest for a while. In this case, in order not to delay the election of the Imperial Academy, it is better to elect the chief officer of the Hanlin Academy early.
"
Ah this...
I have to say that the emperor always likes to do such unexpected things.
When the ministers were quarreling fiercely just now, the emperor said nothing. Now no one mentioned it, but the old man brought it up himself.
It's just that the emperor mentioned it for the sake of the overall interests of the court. After all, as soon as he got the news, he sent the imperial doctor there and gave him precious medicinal materials to help Xiao Tan die. It can be said to be a great grace.
But, again, something like this has just happened to Xiao Ban. If the ministers below are eager to compete for recommendations one by one, it will seem a bit cold.
Therefore, the people below looked at each other in confusion. Even Du Ning and Jiang Yuan hesitated for a moment and did not respond in tacit agreement.
So the emperor stopped for a moment, and when he saw that there was no sound, he simply called his name and asked.
"Does the Ministry of Personnel have any candidates?"
Lord Tianguan below blinked his eyes, obviously not expecting that the emperor would look for him.
You must know that although the Ministry of Personnel has the power of selection, this power of selection is often not for the subordinates but not for the superiors. In other words, most of the time, the Ministry of Personnel is in charge of the huge promotion and transfer of officials below the third rank.
.
Officials of third grade and above will of course be nominated by the Ministry of Personnel, but that is no longer a matter that can be decided only by the Ministry of Personnel. Either the emperor will appoint them directly, or the Ministry of Personnel will nominate them and the seven ministers will discuss them, or they will directly recommend them.
In addition, for relatively special official positions such as Hanlin Bachelor, Dali Temple Minister, and Cabinet Minister, under normal circumstances, the Ministry of Personnel is not involved.
As for the reason, it is because these positions are either noble or important, and basically all the elders in the court are keeping an eye on them. More importantly, the emperor must have his own considerations for these positions, and the officials rashly
Intervention is not a wise move.
Therefore, when the emperor did not seek advice from him regarding the post of Hanlin bachelor, Wang Wen just sat back and watched the fight between tigers and tigers instead of taking a trip into the muddy waters.
Of course, this does not mean that the opinions of the Ministry of Personnel on these official positions are not important. On the contrary, if Wang Wen recommends to the emperor in the name of the Ministry of Personnel, then the right to speak will be much heavier than that of other ministers. Successfully
The rate is also much higher.
But in this way, it is easy to be impeached, and it will also offend others, so it is unnecessary.
Given Wang Wen's current status and relationship with the emperor, a high-ranking official position such as a Hanlin bachelor would not be a help to him, but would arouse suspicion.
This Lord Tianguan just has a tough temper, but if he is not stupid, he will naturally not cause trouble to himself.
However, now that the emperor asked him, it made him a little embarrassed.
In this case, since the emperor asked, he would not refute the opinions of the officials at will. Otherwise, it would damage his authority as the official minister. This is not what the emperor wanted.
But who is the emperor’s preferred candidate?
Wang Wen was a little unsure for a moment, but since it was the imperial minister who was asking the question, he naturally couldn't refuse to answer. Feeling the eyes of everyone, Wang Wen raised his head and glanced at the emperor's face, hesitated for a moment, and answered.
"Reporting to your majesty, as usual, Hanlin bachelors should be promoted from the Qingliu Ci officials. Now, with the qualifications in Beijing, there are less than seven officials who have been evaluated to be Hanlin bachelors, and they do not meet the conditions for selection."
"Furthermore, the matter of Bachelor Xiao is still undecided. His Majesty previously issued an edict to temporarily dismiss his official position and return to the government for review. There is no clear decree to re-select Hanlin Bachelor. Therefore, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has not yet selected candidate officials. Please forgive me.
crime."
If you can't guess what the emperor means, just don't guess at all.
Maybe other people would be afraid of leaving a bad impression in the Emperor's heart, but as the Emperor's right-hand man, Wang Tianguan chose... to ask the Emperor after he goes to court!
However, the emperor obviously did not need him to guess this time, or in other words, Wang Wen's answer was exactly what he wanted.
After listening to Wang Wen's words, the emperor nodded slightly, then pondered for a moment and said.
"What Tian Guan said is reasonable. Before the imperial examination is cleared up, it is indeed inappropriate to select and confer the position of Hanlin Scholar. However, now that the election of the new Jinshi Hall is imminent, this matter cannot be delayed. In this case, the affairs of the Hanlin Academy will be temporarily managed by the chief minister of the cabinet.
How about Wang Ao taking charge of both?"
This seems to be a question, but the emperor speaks so eloquently, and underneath is Wang Wen, an old guy who has always obeyed the emperor's words. How could he have any other opinions?
What's more, after the emperor's voice fell, the chief minister of the cabinet immediately raised his head, with a trace of surprise in his eyes, but it quickly turned into calm.
There is no doubt that for Wang Shoufu, who has been unable to establish himself in Beijing, he will not miss the opportunity to concurrently take charge of the Hanlin Academy.
At this time, anyone who raises objections will really become enemies with the Chief Assistant.
As expected, Wang Wen pondered for a moment, nodded and said.
"I will obey your Majesty's will."
On the other side, this turn of events was obviously something that no one had expected, especially Jiang Yuan and Du Ning, who looked troubled.
It was agreed that it was the two of them fighting over each other, but why did it fall on Wang Ao in the end?
You must know that although the emperor said that it is temporary, it is temporary, even if it is temporary, it is temporary for one month, and it is temporary for one year. Who knows when it will be.
Moreover, maybe the word "tentative" will be completely cancelled.
Du Ning looked at his teacher for help, but Chen Xun did not stand up to object as he expected, but gently shook his head at him.
As for Jiang Yuan, he clenched his fists and tried again and again, but in the end he had no choice but to swallow the bitter pill himself.
That day at Chen Xun's house, he had already offended himself as a teacher. If he offended Wang Ao again at this time, he was afraid that he would not even be able to stay in the cabinet in the future.
…………
Night, Chen Mansion.
It should be said that as a political figure, Du Ning still had the determination he needed, although after the morning session, he wanted to ask his teacher immediately for clarification.
However, frightened by the teacher's stern gaze during the next court session, he could only return to the Yamen of Dali Temple obediently. However, it was inevitable that he would be distracted throughout the whole day.
When he couldn't wait to get to the Yamen, he didn't even have time to eat dinner, so he went straight to Chen's house. Unfortunately, he was informed by his servants that Chen Xun had not returned to his house.
Therefore, Du Siqing could only stay well, but the sadness between his eyebrows could not be concealed.
It wasn't until the sky completely darkened that Du Ning drank a lot of tea and ran to the toilet countless times before a servant came over to report that Chen Xun had returned home.
After adjusting his clothes, Du Ning almost ran to the door and stood there. At this moment, his teacher had just turned around from the corridor and was still far away from the flower hall.
Finally, when Chen Xun came over, Du Ningfang cupped his hands and said.
"Meet the teacher!"
For some reason, Chen Xun didn't look good. He waved his hand to signal Du Ning to follow him without saying much. So, the two of them entered the flower hall and sat down separately.
"I heard from the housekeeper that you came to the mansion when you were off duty. Is it because of what happened in the morning?"
The servants served new tea and then left. Then Chen Xun asked directly.
In front of his teacher, Du Ning had nothing to avoid, so he nodded and said.
"Teacher, after returning that day, the student also investigated the matter of the palace examination and found that just before the palace examination, Ding'an... Jiang Yuan had gone to Wang Jiugao's house several times for secret talks, and now Wang Jiugao recommended him to be in charge of the Hanlin Academy in his memorial
Court affairs, coupled with what Jiang Yuan said that day, it can be seen that this person must be the one behind the palace examination."
"The person he is plotting is the Hanlin Academy. Since the teacher understands this, why..."
Why did you stop him from speaking out in the palace to object?
You must know that the relationship between Wang Ao and the Qingliu lineage has never been good. When he first came to the cabinet, he had a fierce conflict with Chen Xun and Gao Gu.
Of course, in the end, Wang Ao's method was even better. He took Wang Wen, who was already a Heavenly Official at that time, and removed Chen Xun and Gao Gu from their posts as Hanlin Chiefs.
Although it has been a long time since the incident happened, Zi Zi has finally taken over the matter.
Moreover, even if this matter is not mentioned, Wang Ao and Chen Xun are naturally on opposite sides.
As the chief minister of the cabinet, Wang Ao wanted to have greater achievements in the court, so he must have the right to speak in Qingliu. This would inevitably lead to conflicts with Chen Xun, the leader of the old Qingliu, and Xiao Tan, who was newly supported by the emperor.
.
But now it seems that Wang Ao just chose Xiao Tan, who is relatively easy to control, to make the first move.
Since this is already the relationship, then why not stop this?
You know, in order to suppress Chen Xun and Gao Gu, Wang Ao took the initiative to separate the cabinet from the Hanlin Academy. Now he wants to take charge of the Hanlin Academy affairs again. If you talk about it in detail, there is a lot to say.
It is true that this was the emperor's pretext, but Du Ning did not believe it. His teacher, as the Qi Qing, did not even have the courage to refute.
However, compared to Du Ning who was so eager, Chen Xun seemed much calmer and to the point.
"Zong Mi, are you afraid that if he, as the first assistant, temporarily takes charge of the affairs of the court, he will become a real concurrent leader?"
Du Ning didn't speak, but he didn't refute either.
So, both of them knew the answer well.
Seeing this situation, Chen Xun couldn't help but sigh and said.
"Do you know that the most dangerous truth is that flowers bloom and brocades bloom, and fire cooks oil? In the current situation, Wang Ao took over the Hanlin Academy, which is the most foolish move!"
Du Ning was stunned for a moment, then he tasted these words, and seemed to sense some flavor. However, it seemed that there was a layer of window paper that had not been pierced, and he still couldn't figure out the point.
So, I could only ask honestly.
"Please teach me, teacher."
Chen Xun pondered for a moment, as if thinking about what to say. After a while, he spoke.
"Do you still remember what I last said to Jiang Yuan that day?"
Du Ning thought for a moment, recalled the scene, and then saw Chen Xun continuing to talk leisurely.
"Your Majesty, it's not that easy to deal with!"
"Today you focused all your energy on the confrontation with Jiang Yuan, but you ignored the most important point, that is, why did Eunuch Shu from Dongchang get the news of Xiao Fan's suicide at the first time? Could it be that, really
Is it because the Xiao family had no way to appeal, and finally the appeal ended up on him, the Governor of Dongchang?"
"Don't forget what kind of family background the Xiao family has, and what kind of reputation the Dongchang man has!"
What kind of family background is the Xiao family?
Uh... The Xiao family doesn't have much family background...
Although the positions and factions are different, Xiao Tan is still relatively clean, so Du Ning probably still knows about his family background.
Three generations back, the Xiao family had been homesteaders. By Xiao Tan's father's generation, they had saved dozens of acres of land for Xiao Tan to study.
At best, this is called farming and studying, but at worst, it means there is no money and no power.
Of course, because of Xiao Tan, a Jinshi of Qingliu Huaxuan, the Xiao family can now be called a Qingliu family.
Generally speaking, with such a family background, reputation and... integrity are more important!
Duning understood.
Shu Liang of Dongchang, what kind of reputation does he have? Although he is not as indignant as Wang Zhen, he is not a highly praised eunuch either.
Not to mention his various bloody methods within Dongchang and the "big things" he did in Xuanfu, just in the capital, more or less, the ministers of the DPRK and China could always detect that on the streets near their residences,
From time to time there will be some overt or covert Dongchang Tiqi.
Such a person does not have a good reputation either among scholars or among ordinary people.
Xiao Tan has a very strict family tradition and a high reputation. His family members must also know his character, so no matter who he is begging for, he will not be begging for Dongchang.
As Chen Xun said, since they didn't come to him on their own initiative, it's very intriguing that Shu Liang got the news as soon as possible.
Even, maybe...
"Teacher, do you think that the trouble that Xuexiang Xiao caused this time could be caused by someone from Dongchang... using some means?"
It's hard to put it clearly, but with Shu Liang's crazy character, it's not impossible. You know, the Governor of Dongchang is a man who even the Supreme Emperor doesn't pay attention to when he's crazy.
However, Chen Xun did not comment on this speculation and only said:
"Maybe it is, maybe it's not, but whether it is or not, it means at least one thing..."
As he spoke, Chen Xun leaned over, his expression became serious, and he looked at Du Ning.
"Dongchang, we are investigating this matter!" "So, do you think that with Dongchang's power, Dongchang will not be able to find out the things you can find out now?"
"If Dongchang can also find out, then it means..."
Du Ning was startled and finally understood what Chen Xun meant when he said that the emperor was not fond of lakes.
If Dongchang has already begun investigating this matter, it means that the illusion that Jiang Yuan wanted to create this morning, that Jiu Qingliu and the cabinet were in conflict, had already been seen through by the emperor.
However, under this circumstance, the emperor also handed over the errand of the Hanlin Academy to Wang Ao, which means that it is really thought-provoking...