Chapter 255: Order in the court comes first

Author: Silent

Chapter 255: Order in the court comes first

Ministry of Rites.

Xie Qian represented the cabinet, the Hanlin Academy, and the Ministry of Rites to discuss sending people to coordinate the revision of the "Da Ming Huidian". Although it was said to be collaboration, it was actually secretly weakening Zhang Zhou's dominance and voice in the process of fine schooling.

In this way, Xie Qian is not here for negotiation, he is almost using it on someone's behalf.

The one the cabinet favors is Fu Han, the left minister of the Ministry of Rites.

Fu Han, like Guozi Jijiu Lin Han, both came from academic circles and were highly respected in the academic world. Zhang Zhou had Cheng Minzheng and Lin Han to endorse him, and the civil servants could not just let Liang Chu and others cooperate.

Everything must be balanced.

"...Yu Qiao, I don't understand. Since we want to guard against Zhang Bingkuan, why should we let him coordinate the compilation?" Xu Qiong did not make any sound after the court meeting ended.

It was Xu Qiong who felt that people from the cabinet faction might not take him seriously.

But now that Xie Qian is here, he will ask directly.

You can't let us in the Etiquette Department cooperate with you in doing things, and even the reasons are still half-hidden with a pipa, right?

Xie Qian sighed: "Xu Butang, don't ask about some things. In fact, don't you know if you don't tell me? This book was submitted by Zhang Bingkuan alone... As for whether Keqin and others were helping him behind the scenes, that's

It can’t be done accurately either!”

"one person?"

Xu Qiong also thought this was a bit bizarre and nonsense.

"Ahem!"

Perhaps Xu Qiong was so shaken by this incident that she even coughed.

"Xu Butang, take care of yourself." Xie Qian stood up and consoled him.

Although Xu Qiong is not a traditional civil servant, Xu Qiong is old and prudent after all. He is already seventy-five years old, while Xie Qian is only fifty. Recently, Xu Qiong has repeatedly requested to return to his hometown to take care of himself due to health reasons.

On small matters, there is still great disharmony within the civil service, but when it comes to some major issues that need to be addressed to the outside world in unison, Xu Qiong is not ambiguous.

Xu Qiong asked: "So, are you trying to hold Zhang Bingkuan hostage now? Or are you talking about Cheng Keqin?"

Xu Qiong also didn't believe that Zhang Zhou alone could fiddle with the "Da Ming Huidian". It could only be explained that Cheng Minzheng had been bullied too much before, and out of grief and anger, in the past two months, Cheng Minzheng

He studied in seclusion at home, and after he finished writing, he presented the book to Zhang Zhou.

Even Xie Qian's words just now seemed to imply this.

Xie Qian shook his head: "We have said that the work is not accurate, but who knows the reason behind it? Now that the book has been sent to Hanyuan, Zhang Bingkuan asked Keqin and Hengda to go to Hanyuan with him to participate in the correction. What else can be done? Otherwise

Will you always go together?"

"Don't!"

Xu Qiong will not wade into this muddy water.

At first I thought it was a unanimous opposition to the "foreign" Zhang Zhou, but now I think about it, it turns out that this is an internal struggle among the civil servants. On one side are Zhang Zhou, Cheng Minzheng and Lin Han who represent the emperor, and on the other are the traditional civil servants headed by Liu Jian.

Then I, Xu Qiong, am not a traditional civil servant, so why should I join in the fun?

When it comes to choosing sides at critical moments, maybe I still want to side with Zhang Zhou.

"His Majesty also asked the Supervisor of Ceremonies to deliver a message, saying that on the day the book was completed, he would transfer Keqin to Nanjing to take charge of the affairs of the Southern Hanlin Academy... Alas! Speaking of which, Keqin had indeed suffered injustice before, so this can be regarded as a reward.

Give him a chance to return to court."

Xie Qian almost wanted to shape himself into a "sage".

Look at how generous and kind our traditional civil servants are. Are we trying to help Zhang Zhou? Wrong! We are helping those lost sheep get back on track!

Xu Qiong asked: "What about Zhang Bingkuan's merits after the fact..."

Xu Qiong didn't care what Cheng Minzheng did. Cheng Minzheng was originally a Hanlin bachelor. He was not dead. He was only charged with "not avoiding suspicion" and he might come back sometime in the future.

He even wanted to know how the emperor planned to discuss Zhang Zhou's contribution to writing books.

Xie Qian didn't want to say it at first, but in order to show the common ideal of civil servants, he sighed and said: "Your Majesty wants to promote him to the rank of bachelor of the Hanlin Academy."

"Ah."

Xu Qiong was originally leaning towards Zhang Zhou, but she was a little annoyed when she heard this, "Then it's really better to keep him in the Governor's Mansion with military merit."

How come Zhang Zhou, who had just entered the imperial court for less than half a year, was able to edit and write from the Hanlin Academy's History Museum and be directly promoted to a bachelor's degree? They are both ministers from the Hanlin Academy, so why is there such a big difference in treatment?

Xie Qian said with emotion: "Who says otherwise? Back then, when I was in the Hanlin Academy, I was promoted very quickly. It took me fifteen years to get promoted to bachelor's degree. But he... alas!"

After all, Xie Qian was also a top scholar, and he had been struggling in the Hanlin system.

He said this because he heard that Xu Qiong was jealous and resentful of Zhang Zhou's promotion too quickly, and wanted to use this as a breakthrough to find more resonance with Xu Qiong, so as to form an alliance to check and balance Zhang Zhou.

Xu Qiong sighed: "I am old and frail, and I don't have many days left in the court. From now on, you will work with him more! As for the revision of the "Huidian", the entire Ministry of Rites will fully cooperate, but I can only do it myself."

Period of non-participation.”

Jealousy is jealousy, and Xu Qiong is not so stupid that she doesn't know how to take sides.

What's the benefit of standing with your traditional civil servants?

I was promoted to the position of Minister of Rites, and you still have a lot of opinions. Even now, the scholars outside are still saying that I came to the position through nepotism. I believe you Yu Qiao's mouth, it is better to believe a ghost.

Want me to be the vanguard? No way!

Xie Qian smiled and said: "Xu Budang should take care of himself. How can we say that we should not only think about ourselves, but also be considerate for the younger generations in the court, and don't worry too much."

Probably he wanted to remind Xu Qiong.

Don't just think about your own interests, think about your disciples' old friends and so on. You may not plan to stay in the court for a few more years, so don't think about your comrades. Do they want to work hard in the court in the future?

None of your sons, grandsons, or nephews from the same clan want to be an official and want to be protected by the people in the court? The officials and businessmen behind you have no plans to find a way?

Mr. Xu, don't look down on these three people in our cabinet too much. Our daily work is not just to fight with the emperor and Zhang Bingkuan, but more to govern the country, or... to govern people. Even if Zhang Bingkuan can write a book now,

With so many big and small matters in the DPRK, can it be his turn to make decisions?

"Yeah." Xu Qiong is also considered familiar.

You Xie and Yu Qiao have already mentioned the issue of "younger generations", so we should be more consistent in our stance.

"In the Ministry of Rites, Yu Qiao, who do you think you can transfer? Just speak up. As for this matter, I must keep it a secret and not publicize it to the outside world! Yu Qiao, if the power of Bing Kuan really rises in the court in the future, you will also

You have to prepare early, I’m afraid I won’t be able to wait until that day!”

…

…

"Xu Shiyong is just an old fox."

When Xie Qian returned to the cabinet for duty and explained the details of his meeting with Xu Qiong, Li Dongyang couldn't help but comment.

Liu Jian shook his head and said: "It's understandable that he wants to stay out of the matter. Recently, he has been submitting petitions to resign one after another, and it's not an act. Previously, an imperial doctor came to treat him, but his body... really can't bear it."

Xie Qian smiled and said: "It would be better if Xu Shiyong gave up the place of the Ministry of Rites earlier."

Suppressing Zhang Zhou is one thing.

After all, Zhang Zhou was still barely a middle-level civil servant, and the emperor would only listen to Zhang Zhou's opinions on certain matters.

When it comes to the operation of the court, Xu Qiong's influence will be even greater.

For traditional civil servants, they prefer to keep Xu Qiong down and leave some empty positions to people they admire... They do not regard this as a party member, but just think that it follows certain "rules" and is

It is the civil servant's own rules.

Li Dongyang said: "In the past two years, the positions of the six ministers in the imperial court have been very stable. They have not been changed for many years. Maybe the next round will start from the Ministry of Rites. But I don't know what your majesty thinks about the cabinet ministry."

Li Dongyang is quite crisis aware.

In the ninth year of Hongzhi, Tu Yu replaced Geng Yu as the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, Zhou Jing replaced Ye Qi as the Minister of the Ministry of Hubu, Xu Qiong replaced Ni Yue as the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, Xu Guan replaced Liu Zhang as the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, and Min Gui replaced Tu Yu as the Yushi of Zuodu. After that, the six ministers of the Ming Dynasty

The censor of Jiazuodu has not made any changes for three years.

Ma Wensheng, the Minister of War, took office in the second year of Hongzhi, and Bai Ang, the Minister of Punishment, took office in the sixth year of Hongzhi, and has been in office longer.

On the contrary, Xu Pu, the former chief minister of the cabinet, took office in the eleventh year of Hongzhi, which became the biggest personnel change in the court.

According to Li Dongyang's intention, the emperor will either not move, or he may make a big move, and many people may be replaced at one time.

In the past, they did not think that there would be some figures who could influence the order of the court. Even if personnel changes, everything would be within the control of traditional civil servants. However, with the rise of Zhang Zhou in the past two years, the emperor's reliance on civil servants has changed.

There have been many changes, so it's hard to say how much control traditional civil servants will have over the next big personnel change.

Xie Qian said: "There is something I think Xu Shiyong said is reasonable. Maybe before, it was better to let Zhang Bingkuan get a title and be transferred to the Governor's Mansion. From now on, it would be out of sight."

In the past, if Xie Qian said such words, Liu Jian and Li Dongyang might have refuted it, but now they have said nothing.

In the past, it was for the convenience of controlling Zhang Zhou, so I kept Zhang Zhou in the Hanlin Academy. I thought that I could keep Zhang Zhou in the position of "Hanlin Minister" for at least four to five years. Only after the prince became an adult and succeeded in his studies, Zhang Zhou could welcome him.

I'm here for the next promotion, but I'm afraid that something unexpected might happen... Now Zhang Zhou is going to be promoted to the Imperial Academy to be a Bachelor of Science.

Is it possible to join the cabinet next?
To be continued...