Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 251
Of course, there are many white-eyed wolves, but that is not the mainstream of scholars.

With such a relationship, no matter whether Fan Zhongjie admits it or not, others will classify him into the Donglin Party.

Secondly, Fan Zhongjie is still Maoxiang's fellow brother, and he fought side by side with Yan Yingyuan and Maoxiang for more than two months in this battle of Shanyang. The life-and-death friendship forged in this kind of battle is the most sincere.

With this level of relationship, the relationship between Fan Zhongjie and Shi Ziying will not be bad.

Last but not least, Fan Zhongjie is said to be quite appreciated by Chongzhen.

There were even rumors that Chongzhen wanted to transfer Fan Zhongjie to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Therefore, letting Fan Zhongjie replace Meng Zhaoxiang and take over as Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of Officials who is actually in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Officials, they agree, and the Holy One also approves. It can be said to be a win-win situation, and it couldn't be better.

As for the benefits of this matter, the biggest benefit is to drive Meng Zhaoxiang away from the Ministry of Officials.

Relying on his status as the Nine Ministers of the National Distress, Meng Zhaoxiang did not rely on him, and implicitly formed his own system, gradually forming a system independent of the Donglin Party and the Imperial Party. Many low-level Beijing officials have secretly attached to him. If things go on like this, A civil servant group with the nine ministers as the core will be formed in the DPRK.

This is absolutely intolerable to Gao Hongtu, Jiang Riguang and the others.

As veterans of the Donglin Party who have experienced the struggle between the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party, and the melee between the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, and the Qi Party, Gao Hongtu and Jiang Yueguang will never allow the rise of a new group of civil servants.

Party struggles must be nipped in the bud.

That's why Gao Hongtu came up with Fan Zhongjie to succeed Meng Zhaoxiang.

As for Meng Zhaoxiang, it is better to be promoted to Zuoqian Ministry of Rites by two ranks.

Although the real power of the Ministry of Rites is not as good as that of the Ministry of Officials and the Ministry of Households, it is the head of the six ministries in terms of Qinggui.

Moreover, after Meng Zhaoxiang moved to the Minister of Rites from the left, he could be pushed into the court next step. Such an arrangement can be justified in all aspects, and the Holy Majesty will probably approve it.

Sure enough, as soon as Gao Hongtu said this, Jiang Riguang and Xie Xuelong immediately expressed their support.

This made Shi Kefa feel even more aggrieved. It's really boring to be the first assistant, so he just let Gao Hongtu forget it. Unfortunately, he is only in his early forties, and it's too early to become an official.

Even if he really wants to become an official, it should be Gao Hongtu.

After all, Gao Hongtu is already in his sixties.

Xie Xuelong went on to say: "Fan Zhongjie was transferred to the Ministry of Officials, so what about supporting the court?"

Gao Hongtu was also really blunt, and once again said decisively: "As for Zhi Ting's advice, although he is only a member of a family background, this time he has contributed to the country and the community, so it should be commended, why not let him take over from Fan Zhongjie who was vacated Position, directly serve as the prefect of Huai'an Prefecture."

This is amazing, the county magistrate is promoted to the mayor!

"This!" Jiang Riguang said, "Will it be too much?"

From a magistrate of the seventh rank to a magistrate of the fourth rank, this is a consecutive promotion of six ranks!
If it is a place where Beijing officials are released, especially the officials of Kedao or the prince's hidden residence, it is not a big deal to raise the grade by six levels.

Xie Xuelong also said: "Yes, it is not appropriate for Zhi Tingjian to take over as the prefect of Huai'an."

Shi Kefa supported Gao Hongtu's opinion, but he didn't want to speak out.

In the end Gao Hongtu backed down a step and said: "In this case, I will grant the prefect of Huai'an Prefecture and take charge of the affairs of the prefect."

Fu Tongzhi is only a fifth-rank official. From the seventh-rank county magistrate to the fifth-rank Tongzhi, it is exaggerated to even be promoted to the fourth rank, but it is not as shocking as going directly to the magistrate.

Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong agreed.

"This matter has been settled like this. Let the officials go through the process later." Gao Hongtu glanced at Shi Kefa, and then said, "There is still one matter that needs to be resolved as soon as possible."

"That's the Xiangyong programmed by the Huai'an Mansion."

"It's time for local officials to take over these village braves."

The eyes of Shi Kefa and the three fell on Gao Hongtu at the same time.

Are you in such a hurry?This is snatching military power from the Holy Master.

Apparently, at this time, the civilian group had already felt the threat of imperial power.

If Chongzhen was allowed to operate on the Huanghuai defense line, and after controlling the frontier army, he would also control the [-] township braves in Huai'an Mansion through the Shiziying, and the Holy One would really become the second emperor of Yongle.

For an emperor who holds military power in his hands, what checks and balances do civilian officials have?
Therefore, the command of the frontier army can be handed over to the emperor, but the Xiangyong of Huai'an Mansion cannot.

In the future, if the state capitals on the border of the Ming Dynasty want to follow the example of Huai'an Prefecture in organizing and training Xiangyong, this work must also be handed over to local officials or officials appointed by the Ministry of War, and must never be handed over to the emperor.

Shi Kefa and the others naturally agreed with Gao Hongtu's proposal.

But having said that, taking over Xiangyong is not just a matter of lip service, you have to spend real money.

"The matter of silver has been settled." Gao Hongtu continued, "At present, the five million taels of bonds in Hubu City Exchange have all been sold out, and the second issue of [-] million taels of bonds will be sold soon, so silver is no longer available. Problem, right now the imperial court can fully afford the expenses of training Xiangyong, so there is no need for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to do it for you.”

Jiang Yueguang and Xie Xuelong immediately said: "Servants and others second the proposal."

Aggrieved, Shi Kefa agreed again.

This is the chief assistant.

……

At the same time, he was on duty in the office of the Ministry of officials.

Both Chen Liangmo and Hu Ke, the supervisory censor, came to find Meng Zhaoxiang hand in hand with Wu Ganlai. The three of them sat down without saying a word, and Wu Linzheng, Minister of Taichang Temple, also came to find him.

The nine civil servants who escaped from Beijing with Chongzhen at the beginning, Wang Jiayan served as the governor of Shandong, Jin Xuan served as a member of the military department in Xuzhou and temporarily took charge of the general military affairs, Zhan Shifu Zuo Zhongyun Liu Lishun, Zhan Shifu Zuo Yu De Ma Shiqi and others. Wang Wei, who was reviewed by the Imperial Academy, has also been released as a local official close to the people.

Now there are only four people left in Nanjing, Meng Zhaoxiang.

It is foreseeable that Chen Liangmo, Wu Ganlai and even Wu Linzheng will be released soon.

This obviously belongs to the collective will of the officials in Nanjing, and Meng Zhaoxiang alone cannot stop it, so the only thing he can do is to find a good dispatch, at least a Zhengyin official.

Ma Shiqi was sent out to serve as the magistrate, and Liu Lishun was sent out to serve as the prefect of Zhengyin.

Only the Hanlin Academy's review of Wang Wei's qualifications is too young, so he can only be a prefect for the time being.

"Zuo Zhongzai, have you heard about it?" Wu Linzheng asked, "The beheading in the battle of Shanyang was nearly [-] levels!"

"That's what I'm talking about." Meng Zhaoxiang said with a smile, "Yan Yingyuan is really amazing, and His Majesty's ability to know people is also amazing."

"Yes." Wu Linzheng sighed, "Before the Battle of Shanyang, we were still puzzled by the fact that the Holy Majesty entrusted the defense of the Huai'an Mansion to a few scholars. The understanding of people and the accuracy of employing people are really worthy of being a sage who has already realized the Tao."

Chen Liangmo said in disbelief, "Of course we know that Yan Yingyuan and Maoxiang are the most important ones for defending Huai'an Mansion, but the princes in the court probably don't think so, they will only think that it is Fan Zhongjie and Shanyang, the governor of Huai'an. The magistrate Zhi Ting remonstrated the merits of these two people, if there are no accidents, these two people will be very successful."

"It's expected." Wu Linzheng said, "But then again, Fan Zhongjie and Zhi Tingjian's performance in the Battle of Shanyang was also remarkable, and Zuo Qian deserved it."

Wu Ganlai snorted and said, "Of course Fan Zhongjie and Zhi Ting should admonish Zuo Qian, but I'm afraid that several prime ministers in the cabinet will take the opportunity to make a fuss and demote Zuo Qian secretly."

"What do you mean?" Wu Linzheng asked with a fixed gaze, "What did you hear?"

"That's not true, we're just guessing randomly." Chen Liangmo waved his hand, and said, "However, as stated in the Book of Rites, everything can be established without warning, and since there is such a possibility, we have to take precautions in advance. , so as not to catch the elders by surprise."

Wu Linzheng said, "How to prepare for this?"

Wu Ganlai said: "Since I followed Shengjia to Nanjing, I haven't been idle. If the elders are really too much, they may have to mobilize the officials to create public opinion."

Chen Liangmo said: "Unless Zuo Zhongzai enters the cabinet to assist the Prime Minister, he will never quit."

"Isn't that bad?" Meng Zhaoxiang said with some embarrassment, "Are we doing this to provoke party disputes?"

After a pause, he continued: "As far as the current situation is concerned, what our Ming Dynasty needs most is to work together to resist the foreign captives, so it's best not to provoke factional disputes, and the Holy Majesty certainly doesn't want to see factional disputes."

Chen Liangmo and Wu Ganlai fell silent, which was the most worrying thing.

What the Holy Majesty meant, several of the officials in Beijing actually knew about it.

It is to entrust all political affairs to Nanjing officials in exchange for the command of the frontier army.

Even if the Holy Majesty does not engage in checks and balances in political affairs, the civil service group cannot hold back the Holy Majesty in the military. Up to now, the cooperation between the two parties has been quite harmonious.

It is also because of this that the Holy Majesty did not give them any support for the national crisis.

There is reason to believe that if there is the support of the Holy One, Nanjing will never be in the current situation. The civil servant group headed by the Nine Ministers is fully capable of fighting the Nanjing official group.

In the end, Chen Liangmo said: "Zai Zuozhong, some things are not whether we want to fight or not, but Nanjing officials insist on forcing us to fight. If we don't fight, they will be trampled into the quagmire. If our country is in trouble, Jiuqing will be trampled. In the mud, there is no one in the court to speak for the Holy One, and then the current balance can be maintained? I think it's too bad."

Wu Ganlai went on to say: "Perhaps the four elders are already planning to fight for military power."

"Well, it's possible." Wu Linzheng said, "The frontier soldiers probably wouldn't dare to reach out, but Xiangyong is hard to say."

"Then, Mr. Wu's opinion is also consistent with ours." Wu Ganlai said to Meng Zhaoxiang again, "Master Zuo Zhong, we have no way out in this matter, we can only fight with them to the end."

"Yes, we must fight to the end." Chen Liangmo said, "If you want Zuo Zhongzai Zuoqian, you can, but you must join the cabinet, and Mr. Wu must also enter the Ministry of Officials to serve as Youzhong Zai, otherwise this matter will not be discussed."

(End of this chapter)